Legal Reforms in the Aftermath of Tiananmen Square

Abstract

This article examines some of the new Chinese legislation passed in the aftermath of the government’s crackdown of the student pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square. As the Chinese government recovers from the crisis of Tiananmen Square, the legal activities that it has chosen to undertake and to publicize can offer a snapshot of the mentality of the leadership towards legal reform. The laws promulgated since Tiananmen Square have an overall focus of “promoting stability,” which in the Chinese government’s view, means upholding party policy. Law is being re-emphasized as a counter-balance to reform and democracy resulting in the dualities of “democracy and law, freedom and discipline, rights and duties.”