Was Tiananmen East Asia's Faustian Bargain for Progress?

The 36th anniversary of Tiananmen Square has come and gone, marking another year in which China and the majority of East Asia’s political economy remain firmly authoritarian. Behind the veneer of hyper-efficient technologies and bustling economies lie immense demographic pressures and civic decline. A Faustian bargain comes with its consequences.

For the Chinese people, Tiananmen marked an inflection point among a people that had endured immense hardship. The tanks sent to suppress the uprising buried the democratic sentiment under the promises of Chinese national greatness and economic comfort, which it eventually achieved at a great social price.