There is always a choice

Tiananmen Square demonstrator, 1989

Kissinger implies the Chinese government had no choice but to crack down on the pro-democratic protesters of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstration.

Kissinger’s treatment of Tiananmen will not endear him to critics who see him as more sympathetic to the instigators of the violence than to its victims. While he does not condone the use of force against unarmed protesters, he seems to regard it as an understandable response to “the historical Chinese fear of chaos and memories of the Cultural Revolution.” And he clearly holds the protesters at least partly responsible for the fate that befell them. After all, he writes, “the occupation of the main square of a country’s capital, even when completely peaceful, is also a tactic to demonstrate the impotence of the government, to weaken it, and to tempt it into rash acts.” This is not quite the same as saying the protesters got what was coming to them, but it comes awfully close. ¹ 

Kissinger enjoys the purposeful bombing of millions of civilians.² He's clearly lying when he says he doesn't support the use of force against unarmed protesters.  The United States is not a democracy and neither those controlling the US government nor Kissinger support democracy.  It's no surprise Kissinger would support an authoritarian regime cracking down on a democratic movement.  The entire Vietnam War was about suppressing the possibility of democracy in South Vietnam.³

There is always a choice.  The people who control the authoritarian Chinese government are capable of choosing to move in a democratic direction.  They are additionally adults with a responsibility to act in that direction.  The people who control the US government are capable of choosing to move in a democratic direction instead of maintaining outdated systems of oppression.  They are additionally adults with a responsibility to act in that direction.  The people who control the Spanish government are capable of respecting Catalonia's right to self-determination.  They are additionally adults with a responsibility to act in that direction.  

It's shameful that Western propaganda exploits the Tiananmen tragedy to bolster the façade that the West is pro-democratic.  Sparta gave birth to Westernism.  Democracy means global direct democracy^L1 has highest authority and that every sane adult gets a vote.  The right to self-determination should be upheld along with individual human^L2 rights.

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1.Friedberd, Aaron. "The Unrealistic Realist." New Republic, 12 Jul. 2011, https://newrepublic.com/article/91893/henry-kissinger-on-china. Accessed 4 Oct. 2017.
2. Becker, Stuart Alan. "Noam Chomsky Maintains the Rage." Phnom Penh Post, 5 Oct. 2010, https://chomsky.info/noam-chomsky-maintains-the-rage/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2017.
3. Chomsky, Noam. "The Meaning of Vietnam". The New York Review of Books, 12 Jun. 1975, https://chomsky.info/19750612/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2017.