Tiananmen square, Leipzig, and the "Chinese solution": Revisiting the wende from an Asian-German perspective

Abstract

This article explores the transnational connection between China and the GDR in 1989 and views the student protests on Tiananmen Square in spring 1989 as a consequential precursor to German reunification. The SED's endorsement of the Chinese government's suppression and the East Germans' fear of a "Chinese solution" to looming domestic unrest aggravated the mass exodus in the summer and fall of 1989. Contrary to expectations, Leipzig, the center of protests in East Germany, did not become another Tiananmen on October 9. The military crackdown in Beijing ultimately served as a counterexample that helped to facilitate a peaceful revolution in East Germany.