Tiananmen Square protests bring down the Chinese government

The Soviets fell apart into distinct states (Russia, Kazakhstan, etc) because they had been as much under the USSR, albeit a Russian hegemony had reigned with most of the control.
The Soviets weren't very much united in many respects. The former Russian Empire had conquered and subjugated non-Russians in the 'Stans, and those people were under control until the fall of the Soviet Union. So, in more simple terms, these nations that broke away from one another were already nations within a greater nation. So it was already sectionalized.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but while there are ethnicities and distinctions of regions in China, I don't think its so drastic as it was in the USSR nor is there a mass frustration of people distinct from the Chinese in being under Chinese control (save for Tibet and the like).
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but while there are ethnicities and distinctions of regions in China, I don't think its so drastic as it was in the USSR nor is there a mass frustration of people distinct from the Chinese in being under Chinese control (save for Tibet and the like).


You're exactly right. China wasn't "a nation of nations" as you pointed out; there was a world of difference between China's provinces and the USSR's republics; IIRC, the Soviet constitution allowed for republics to secede legally, and two of the SSRs even had their own separate representation in the UN apart from the USSR.

As many people have said before, even the more ethnically diverse provinces of China have a predominantly Han population. In Xinjiang and Tibet, while several top positions are typically held by minorities, they're usually just ceremonial figures, and the Hans are in control of the government aparatus. And in those provinces, the (Han) military plays a big role in the administration.
 
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