The movement supporting democracy in China picked up steam in the late 1970's as people began to support the change. As this idea became more vocal so did the need to silence it. There was of course a move toward the moderate and away from the highly controlled governing of Mao's party after his death, but this did not mean students would be able to speak or protest freely. As stated in The Democracy Wall Movement, 1979 the government was trying to make sure no one was "fooled" by those supporting democracy. The government responded with violence 8 years later. Something I find interesting is the fact that information about the even is still largely guarded in China. I guess the government might want to keep the masses from knowing about it.
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