Prosperity tangible along Chang'an Ave

• Source: The Global Times
• [04:58 June 04 2009]
• Comments

Under such a historical background, the Soviet Union disintegrated and Eastern Europe experienced drastic changes.

He Liangliang said that if the same thing happened in China after 1989, China would very likely have fallen apart because of political struggles, racial conflicts, and social and regional discrepancies, just as it did after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, which resulted in the collapse of China’s last dynasty.

“China would not have been able to achieve sustained and rapid economic growth, or become the world’s third-largest economy and a major trading partner of the US, Japan and the European Union, not to mention participate in the process of globalization as a WTO member,” He continued.
But, as it were, China learned its lesson the hard way from the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).

“We know China can’t afford another big social turmoil,” Jiang said. “Ten years of economic reform since 1978 benefited the Chinese people in general and reinforced our faith in socialism” – the Chinese development model.

“Based on these factors,” he said, “the Chinese government made a sober and sensible decision to overcome hard times, restore social stability, and enhance economic reform in the 1990s. Thus, China didn’t miss a valuable historic development opportunity once again.”

New additions have been made to Tiananmen Square, which used to be the site for frequent political incidents in the old days. A new national flag-raising ceremony was introduced in 1991. Tens of thousands of people across the country make their pilgrimage in the early morning hours every day to catch a glimpse of the flag rising with the sun.