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HE IS WORLD famous, and at the same time anonymous. The man who stood alone blocking a column of tanks at Tiananmen Square endures as a symbol of peaceful protest and defiance 25 years later.
It was just before noon on 5 June 1989. Wearing a white shirt, carrying a shopping bag in each hand, he strode out a day after Chinese troops killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in the heart of Beijing.
In the middle of the wide avenue running north of Tiananmen Square – by now empty of the students who had dreamed of democracy – he stopped, facing the first of a column of tanks and armoured vehicles stretching far down the road.
Captured on camera, ‘Tank Man’ has become one of the defining images of the 20th century. Unforgettably powerful, his photograph has been endlessly reproduced, despite being censored at home by China’s ruling Communist Party.
His identity and fate are unknown.
The first tank repeatedly tried to move around him. Each time, he stepped back into its path.
“I felt he was saying: ‘I won’t let you pass, back off – we’re prepared to die here,’” said Hu Jia, a prominent dissident in Beijing.
What he did symbolises the spirit of young people at that time.
The protester climbed onto the vehicle to engage in a conversation with one of the tank crew, as gunshots crackled in the air.
Climbing down, he stood to one side, gesticulating for the column to go back down the road. But when the lead tank tried to speed past him, he dashed back into position to stop it again.
Eventually, he was pulled away by two men. By some accounts they were security agents; others said they were worried onlookers.
Flustered leader
The stand-off lasted only minutes. But Tank Man’s calm and courage have earned him a place in history – his mystique reinforced by his disappearance, probably at the hands of the security forces.
For a quarter of a century theories have swirled about him, but few facts have emerged. Some identified him as Wang Weilin, a name that has never been confirmed. Nor has that of the tank driver who refused to crush him.
Like many others, Hu Jia tried to find out who the protester was – and even asked a friend in the military to try to track down the soldier at the wheel – but without success.
From Chinese authorities, there has been nothing but a wall of silence.
A year after the crackdown, American TV journalist Barbara Walters confronted Jiang Zemin, by then the number one in the Communist Party, with a photograph of Tank Man.
“Do you have any idea what happened to this young man?” she asked.
A flustered Jiang stressed that the tanks had not run the man over. He declined to confirm the man’s fate beyond saying that he did not believe he had been killed.
’Unknown Soldier’
Several photographers captured Tank Man’s lone figure on film that day. But it was Jeff Widener of the Associated Press news agency whose shot (above) became the most widespread, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and now regarded as one of the most recognisable photographs of all time.
Taken from the balcony of his room at the Beijing Hotel, it was splashed across the front pages of newspapers the world over – except, of course, in China.
Since 1989 it has been recycled countless times – by rights groups denouncing repression, in advertising campaigns, and by satirists. A parody version appeared in The Simpsons, with Homer Simpson refusing to budge before a column of taxis.
But in China the image remains largely unrecognised, heavily censored by Communist authorities. Hu Jia, for instance, did not see it until several years after it became world-famous.
“Not many people owned cameras in those days, so the image is incredibly valuable,” said Hu.
Last year, a satirical version of the shot – with giant yellow rubber ducks replacing the tanks – went viral online. China responded by banning the phrase “big yellow duck” from Internet searches.
Widener, now 57, confesses that he developed a “love-hate relationship” with his photo in the years that followed, as it overshadowed all of his later work.
“I think about Tank Man from time to time and wonder what happened to him,” Widener, who now lives in the German city of Hamburg, told AFP.
“Perhaps it is better we never know who he is,” he added.
It’s a bit like the ‘Unknown Soldier’. He will always remind us of the importance of freedom and democracy and our rights for human dignity.
Hu agrees. “Maybe he was killed, maybe he was thrown in prison, maybe he went abroad, but it doesn’t matter any more,” he said.
“I believe we are all Tank Men. If we confront the system, Tank Man lives on.”
In the end we don’t remember the words of our enemy but the silence of our friends.
A brave brave man.
Wonder what would have happened if he stood waving a flag in front of an American tank during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
He’d be a terrorist, obviously.
Bill. Maybe you should ask the question like this. If he was a US citizen facing down the Tank in the US would it have been the same outcome. Because your scenario is completely different to the one in the picture.
Exactly. Loving this quote: “He will always remind us of the importance of freedom and democracy”. I wonder do Irish people feel free when they are forced to pay insurmountable private bank debts, and an bloated and inefficient State payroll? Freedom is relative. At least the cost of living in China in cheap, but they have the burden of managing a quarter of the world’s population.
Looking at the USA’s past history on the occasions they have used the national guard, it would have rolled right over him.
And if they had the driver and tank commander would be charged with murder.
Mick Jordan ok Kent State massacre by National Guard this guy survived the protesting students were mowed down there
Mick Jordan were any of the helicopter gunship incident in Iraq charged with anything I believe their only reprimand was for laughing out loud as they slaughtered innocents
Again Bill. Iraq was a war zone and completely different to Tianamin square. Kent State. Before the shooting there was several days of rioting by students tempers were running high on both sides. The National Guardsman that first opened fire claimed that they had come under fire from a sniper. After he had opened fire with his pistol those troops with him reacted out of instinctive training and believing they were under attack opened fire too. The shooting lasted 13 seconds in total. Unlike the several hours that Tianamin square lasted. And no tanks were deployed in Kent State university grounds or on public roads around or near Kent State so again your analogy is nowhere near what is happening in the above photo.
Again Mick. Iraq was not a war it was an invasion of a sovereign state by America .
I beg to differ.
Bill. The Oxford English Dictionary’s description of War. “Hostile contention by means of armed forces, carried on between nations, states, or rulers, or between parties in the same nation or state; the employment of armed forces against a foreign power, or against an opposing party in the state.
Good man Mick now while you have your head in that dictionary check what the term invasion means.
Of course we do things differently here. When our government threatens to crush us, we just gather around and have a good old winge and moan about it.
I can’t recall the Irish Govt. sending in troops and tanks against its own people murdering hundreds and imprisoning thousands while at it.
I mustn’t live in the same Ireland as you…
You certainly don’t by the sounds of it. You must live in the Ireland where streets are paved with gold and money grows on trees. The Ireland where unemployment is non existent and a tax free haven for all.
Ever hear of the Irish civil war?
If it was the done in Ireland and the tanks were garda cars outside the Dail people would call the man a fool. Dossile Irish.
What was happening then in China, and indeed what’s happening there now, is many times worse than anyting which is happening here.
Pretty sad comparison to make really.
Tank Man photograph is one of the most famous and symbolic images of our history. He stood and stopped the might of the Army tanks whilst obviously making a big impression on the tank driver. The power of this image will last forever.
This is why we should not trade with Chins. They have not changed.
Chins Ahippo, really?
Don’t you love social solidarity from socialists.
Ahippo, Socialists are deluded. Thank God they are just a minority of head the balls in Ireland.
All the people in kildare say tanks a lot tank man.
Remember seeing this at the time, such powerful imagery. Sad that many Chinese don’t know about it thanks to censorship.
A truly iconic image of defiance. Inspirational and proof that one man (Or woman, Reg) can make a difference.
Amazing that he’s never been identified… I don’t think it bodes well for China though. Either the censorship is so strong that it’s been suppressed or he was disappeared and nobody knows why.
This is what Communism does. It destroys lives and robs futures. “Communism: Lowering Innovation. Lowering Motivation. Lowering a Nation”. Communism is an evil that must be destroyed.
Is Capitalism any better?
I agree with that notion, I’m not in favour atall of communism but at the same time China are doing pretty well when looking at economics compared to other countries?
How lo is a chinaman
he wo
What a load of do gooder slack comments…..he good man! Ugg where are all the jokes??
No one person is too small to give an impact.
He became “The Stig”.
have your say