Luis Matías López on the protests on Tienanmen Square

Twenty years ago the protests by thousands of students calling for democratic reform in the People's Republic of China were bloodily put down on Tienanmen Square. Luis Matías López asks in the Spanish daily Público what has changed in China since then: "In the 20 years that have elapsed since the calamity, China has developed into a global superpower whose investments in the US economy are taken as a guarantee that the economic crisis will not lead to a global depression. [China's] demand for raw materials for its industrialisation and its limitless consumption capacity are determining factors in international markets. The country is experiencing exponential growth, causing hundreds of millions of peasants to migrate to the cities. China hosted the best Olympic Games in history and is working on putting a man on the moon. ... Has it become more democratic? Very little. There is somewhat more transparency in the election of delegates to the National People's Congress, and a little more pluralism among candidates for local government posts. Individual freedoms have progressed somewhat. But nothing has happened that could alter the Chinese Communist Party's monopoly on power."

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