Changes

China's economy changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade, to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy.

China's economy changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade, to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy.

===Tiananmen Square massacre===

====Tiananmen Square massacre====

[[File:Wmr1a.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Remains of what used to be [[human being]]s in the Tiananmen Square [[democracy]] protests.<ref>http://www.cnd.org/HYPLAN/yawei/june4th/</ref>]]

[[File:Wmr1a.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Remains of what used to be [[human being]]s in the Tiananmen Square [[democracy]] protests.<ref>http://www.cnd.org/HYPLAN/yawei/june4th/</ref>]]

Near the end of the [[Cold War]] China's Communist Party faced the challenge of large-scale protests in Beijing's [[Tiananmen Square]] and in more than 100 other cities including [[Shanghai]] between April 15, 1989, and June 4, 1989.  Disagreements about how to respond split the top Party leadership and forced out the Party General Secretary at the time, Zhao Ziyang. The decision by Deng Xiaoping, then China's Paramount Leader, to order the [[People's Liberation Army|People's army]] to break up pro-[[democracy]] protests by force undermined the Party's legitimacy.   

Near the end of the [[Cold War]] China's Communist Party faced the challenge of large-scale protests in Beijing's [[Tiananmen Square]] and in more than 100 other cities including [[Shanghai]] between April 15, 1989, and June 4, 1989.  Disagreements about how to respond split the top Party leadership and forced out the Party General Secretary at the time, Zhao Ziyang. The decision by Deng Xiaoping, then China's Paramount Leader, to order the [[People's Liberation Army|People's army]] to break up pro-[[democracy]] protests by force undermined the Party's legitimacy.