Was Tiananmen East Asia’s Faustian Bargain for Progress? - Washington Examiner

Was Tiananmen East Asia’s Faustian Bargain for Progress? - Washington Examiner

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…