Reaction to Tiananmen Square

I think President Bush's reaction to the Tiananmen Square incident was reasonable because he did not want to lose China as an ally against the Soviets or as a trade partner. He also had to appease public calls for action against the Chinese because of the public attention at the time. The incident did not affect his run for reelection, so his actions served that purpose as well. Turning against the Chinese or imposing harsh sanctions would not have been effective because of their governments focus on control. The US would only be further isolating citizens in China if they tried to punish the government, which would not have appeased the call for democracy. The US could not have influenced the Chinese to be kinder to their citizens because that may undermine their power, which they would not willingly do.