Going back to 1989, what's a plausible action the West and the United States could have taken in response to the Tiananmen Square Massacre that would've had the most significant consequences for China-Western relations today? Could the massacre have shaken the U.S. foreign policy establishment and Bush out of the idea that China would liberalize with further Western engagement, or at least significantly sour the U.S. outlook on Chinese politics to have engagement look much differently?
Main possibilities I can think of is blocking Chinese entry into the WTO without any significant Chinese liberalization in the coming decades, as well as harsh economic sanctions which per my knowledge Bush avoided beyond targeted actions against the PLA.
Main possibilities I can think of is blocking Chinese entry into the WTO without any significant Chinese liberalization in the coming decades, as well as harsh economic sanctions which per my knowledge Bush avoided beyond targeted actions against the PLA.
