Response to Deng's Crackdown

After reading two articles regarding Deng's response to the Tiananmen Square Protests, one from the Financial Times and the other an interview of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, my opinions regarding the massacre were not the same. Initially after watching the documentary Tank Man, I was shocked by how violently Deng reacted to the protesters. The documentary made it seem like the government was completely overreacting and that there was no need for violence. The articles however, made me slightly more sympathetic towards Deng. After reading the interview, I realized that for China "there is no alternative to strong central power". The nation is so vast and contrasting, a strong central government is needed to keep control. They need to keep an image of power and stability, so they decided to "flex their muscle" by reacting to the protesters with violence. I agree with the fact that they need to show whose in control, but outright murdering thousands of protesters, many of them students, was way too extreme.