<P> Set against a backdrop of rapid economic development and social changes in post-Mao China , the protests reflected anxieties about the country 's future in the popular consciousness and among the political elite . The reforms of the 1980s had led to a nascent market economy which benefitted some people but seriously disaffected others ; the one - party political system also faced a challenge of legitimacy . Common grievances at the time included inflation , limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy , and restrictions on political participation . The students called for democracy , greater accountability , freedom of the press , and freedom of speech , though they were loosely organized and their goals varied . At the height of the protests , about a million people assembled in the Square . </P>
<P> Set against a backdrop of rapid economic development and social changes in post-Mao China , the protests reflected anxieties about the country 's future in the popular consciousness and among the political elite . The reforms of the 1980s had led to a nascent market economy which benefitted some people but seriously disaffected others ; the one - party political system also faced a challenge of legitimacy . Common grievances at the time included inflation , limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy , and restrictions on political participation . The students called for democracy , greater accountability , freedom of the press , and freedom of speech , though they were loosely organized and their goals varied . At the height of the protests , about a million people assembled in the Square . </P>
what was a goal of the student protestors in tianamen square in 1989
what was a goal of the student protestors in tianamen square in 1989
freedom of the press
freedom of the press