Chai li is one of the organiser and student leaders leading the Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989 other, known as the '89 Democracy movement of China. And members of the student party demonstrated against the Chinese government, demanding access to basic human rights (according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ), such as the freedom of speech and freedom of the press for the media. Not only the protest involves the demand for human rights, she and her party demand a political change in favour of a more liberal system. Her fight for human rights and democracy, as a spokesperson for the movement during and after the time, raised awareness in both the western and eastern media has gained her a nomination for the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. The overall effect of her empowering work during the protest resonates politically and socially to this day.
Background: The People's Republic of China, during the 1990s, was still under the regime of communist socialism, ruled by chairman Deng Xiaoping of the CPC (Communist Party of China). This chairman is elected internally within the party by party leaders chosen by those of the previous generations, which would undoubtedly heighten the corruption rate, decreasing the transparency of the system during the time. This type of election represents the people and their personal idea and values during the time, broadening the gap between classes. The presses at the time were also part of the communist government, with each particle published confirmed and proofread by party officials, ensuring the preservation of conservative ideas with the addition of communist propaganda and ideology. According to the head of press of the newspaper, Xinhua paper, during an interview with the New York Times, "Words such as revolution, democracy, and freedom are heavily tabooed". The people's freedom of speech was revoked with the mention of topics of government corruption and political reform prosecutable by death, as seen by the high death rates of political inmates (the radicals).
Political Impact: The most iconic photograph that represents the event was "Tank Man". The image symbolises a protest movement that didn't stop despite the fact that several hundred students were killed by armed police the day before, but also the fact that ever since the protest, the CPC has been acting out of fear of a repetition of such political protests. This is still the driving force behind the decisions of the CPC makes today. Party Officials are now appealing to each of the masses through the recently introduced anti-corruption campaign and economical reforms packaged by chairman Xi Jinping, an effort to achieve political legitimacy through performance. Local party officials are now being scrutinised by the public, and such pressure, it leads to the resignation of many officials due to corruption. During the time of technological advancement, freedom of information and the right to democratically vote is now achievable ...
