In the early 1980s, China was considered to be one of the more advanced of the Communist states in terms of reform and there were high expectations of China leading the other Communist countries and setting a good example. When the Tiananmen incident happened, all of a sudden you got this major bloodshed. There was a sense of shock.
Immediately the Europeans imposed economic sanctions on China and broke off high-level contact.
However, despite the shock and action taken after the events in Tiananmen Square, it wasn’t long before the channels of dialogue were reopened between the Europeans and China.
Even in the immediate aftermath, it wasn’t as though China was completely isolated because contact was necessary, given China’s status. At first there was a decision by Europe as a whole to break off contact at the ministerial level but then exceptions were made for the United Kingdom and Portugal who were in negotiations with China over Hong Kong and Macau.
So, even at that time, the Europeans still needed to talk to China. Also, China was also one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. It’s one thing to isolate a small pariah state in the developing world but you need to be able to talk to countries like China who have such influence over global issues.
