Nanjing in 1989

As we look back on the 25^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, we opened our vault of Hopkins-Nanjing Center history and found two articles, one from the Baltimore Sun from August 23, 1989 and one from the Washington Post from August 26, 1989. The articles state that the Johns Hopkins University decided to keep the doors to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center open in the wake of Tiananmen. Johns Hopkins University was initially concerned about possible repercussions in Nanjing, but the university ultimately made the decision to keep the Center open.

“After the Tiananmen massacre, the United States imposed limited sanctions on China—such as suspending arms sales—but President Bush said he wanted to safeguard the educational and cultural exchanges that had been established. ‘The Hopkins program is just the kind of thing the president had in mind,’ a State Department official said.” -The Baltimore Sun, August 23, 1989

“Perhaps the Chinese authorities decided to let the Hopkins-Nanjing Center continue because it is small and far from Beijing. Perhaps the decision also reflects a rising sense in China of the cost of academic isolation and the attempts to control students’ ideas. Johns Hopkins is delivering a valuable message. There is much interest in China among Americans, and much willingness to work with the Chinese—but only as long as certain fundamental principles are observed.” -The Washington Post, August 26, 1989

For the full text of the articles, please see our archived selections below. (Click to enlarge).