The bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square almost three decades ago saved China from a Russia-style meltdown, according to a strongly held view among the generation that will enjoy unprecedented international clout as it takes up the baton of power in Beijing.

The crackdown of June 4 1989 generated international condemnation and is viewed in the western world and among many academics in China as a missed chance for a more open and liberal political system. 

But many in China’s political and economic elite and among the broader middle class believe the country’s recent economic success could never have been achieved if the ruling Communist party had not called in the army 28 years ago to maintain its monopoly on power.