Category: From Quarantine to Constitution: The Hard-Won End of One-Party Rule and the Birth of a Republic of Compromise (1983–1998)

In the winter of 1986, students filled the streets with calls for fair elections and dignity, while inside Zhongnanhai, the elders and reformers wrestled over how far — and how fast — China could change…

In 1983, China’s future lay locked in the hands of its revolutionary elders — until a plague loosened their grip and left the door to change just slightly ajar…