[In repeated crises since 1989, Beijing has simply held the line and developments have turned in their favour.
From 1989-1992, China faced a variety of US-led sanctions in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s
calling for economic and political reform.
When it was clear that the party was not going to budge, the sanctioning states simply did not have the stomach for a drawn-out conflict in which they sacrificed their economic interests for the abstract goal of a more liberal and democratic China.]
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