They recoiled at the Soviet bloc’s disintegration. “Every effort should be made to prevent changes in Eastern Europe from influencing China’s internal development,” party officials concluded in March 1989, and within months they violently crushed democratic protesters.
而1989年留下的、最令人迷惑的遗产则被中国领导人收下。苏东阵营的分崩离析曾令他们心惊胆战，中共官员在当年三月如此总结道：“应尽一切努力，以阻止东欧剧变对中国的内部发展产生影响。”之后数月内，他们便对民主抗议者进行了暴力镇压。