From the Intelligence, I'm Jason Palmer. This is episode 4 of a new 8-part podcast series from the

Economist. The show is called The Prince and it's about the leader of China, Xi Jinping. If you haven't

heard the previous episodes or if you can't wait for the next one, you can hear the whole series now

by searching for The Prince on your podcast app.

This was the sound of a changing China in the late 80s.

A piece of red cloth by Tweet Jen was an anthem for thousands of protesting students and workers.

In the spring of 1989, Tweet Jen performed live at the demonstrators unofficial headquarters,

Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Hundreds of thousands of people are chanting for us long live democracy, calling for the

movement to continue to the end as cheering and clapping. What an extraordinary atmosphere these

people are on the crest of a wave. James Miles was there reporting for the BBC. These days he's a

colleague of mine at the Economist. In 1989, it did seem or would have seemed from the point of view

of leaders in Jiangnanhai, the party compound, that the party's survival was at stake.

Some Jeannie had been let out of the bottle that without some massive show of force would be

very hard indeed to put back in again. The party itself was divided between those who wanted to take

a hard line and those more supportive of the students. And if any party leaders publicly sided

with the students against the party, that could bring it down entirely. So China's leader,

Dong Xiaoping, made a decision. He put the most prominent official who was sympathetic to the

students under house arrest and sent in the army.

In the early hours of June 4, 1989, the Chinese military cleared Tiananmen Square and the surrounding

streets. They killed hundreds, if not thousands. This was the people's army that it hadn't been used

to suppress protesters in anybody's living memory and people were just brimming with fury, anger,

...