Inflation was, some say, the real cause of the protests.
.. and inflation is now a very serious issue once again -- along with a myriad of other existential threats to the commies; and there's even a new one: the worst energy crisis in years.
Golly gee.. and Red China is going to pass us as a super power by next Tuesday afternoon, around Tea time?
One of the under-appreciated causes of the Tiananmen Square protests was the widespread presence of foreigners in China for the first time starting in about 1986. Prior to that virtually all foreign tourists had been confined to tightly-controlled organized tours. In about 1986 the Chinese began issuing visas to individual travelers and China instantly became the go-to destination for Western backpackers. By 1989, and for the first time in Chinese history, tens of thousands of young educated Chinese had seen and met young Westerners and could see and hear for themselves just how poor their prospects were in comparison to those of their foreign counterparts. In the face of this disparity of outlook, the benefits of a more liberalized political and economic system became immediately and personally apparent to these young Chinese.