Xi Praises 1989 Tiananmen Crackdown, Urges Fighting Spirit Before September Trump Meeting
Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 17
Xi Praises 1989 Tiananmen Crackdown, Urges Fighting Spirit Before September Trump Meeting
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Aug 17
Summary
At a 45-minute Beijing speech for Jiang Zemin’s birth centenary, Xi Jinping explicitly backed the Communist Party’s 1989 decision to reject protesters’ demands and clear Tiananmen Square with troops and tanks.
Xi paired that rare endorsement with a call for an “indomitable fighting spirit,” casting China as facing “rough seas” and “raging storms” but able to defend sovereignty, security and development interests.
All 7 Politburo Standing Committee members and retired party leaders attended, underscoring the speech’s political weight as Xi linked Jiang’s rise to his support for the party line during the 1989 upheaval.
The remarks also contrasted with Xi’s upbeat claim that living standards are improving despite slowing growth, while coming ahead of a late-September meeting with Donald Trump expected to cover trade, AI and Taiwan.