TheBeijing Spring (Chinese:北京之春;pinyin:Běijīng zhī chūn) refers to a brief period of politicalliberalization during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period in thePeople's Republic of China (PRC).[1] It began as theDemocracy Wall movement inBeijing, which occurred in 1978 and 1979, right after the end of theChinese Cultural Revolution.[1][2][3] The name is derived from "Prague Spring", an analogous event which occurred inCzechoslovakia in 1968.
During the Beijing Spring, the general public was allowed greater freedom to criticize the government than the Chinese people had previously been allowed under thegovernment of the People's Republic of China. Most of this criticism was directed towards theCultural Revolution and the government's behavior during that time. It was made public with theDemocracy Wall Movement, aChinese democracy movement.[4]
The phrase "Beijing Spring" was also used during a more recent period of political thaw in the PRC from September 1997 to mid November 1998. During this 'new Beijing Spring' the Chinese authorities relaxed some control over political expression and organisation. The relatively trouble-freehandover of Hong Kong to China from the United Kingdom and the death ofDeng Xiaoping in early 1997 were precursors to this brief period of liberalisation.
It was during this second "Beijing Spring" that theChina Democracy Party was founded and legally registered by some local authorities. The Democracy Wall Movement dissidentWei Jingsheng was released and exiled, China signed theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and China was visited by US PresidentBill Clinton and UN Human Rights CommissionerMary Robinson at this time. By the end of 1998 the government had again cracked down on leading dissidents and those involved in the fledgling oppositionChinese Democracy Party.
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