22 years ago young protesters gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mourn the passing of a liberal official. Communist countries in Europe were collapsing like dominoes and the Chinese Politburo feared this non-violent threat to their regime. The hardline Premier Li Peng attempted to establish martial law, however the city troops had no heart to suppress their compatriots. Finally on June 4, 1989 the PLA cleared the square with live ammo. Thousands were wounded and hundreds killed by the People’s Liberation Army.
The date lives in the Chinese psyche as the “Six Four Incident”.
Order was restored in Beijing with an iron fist, however one brave man stopped a column of tanks cruising down Tiananmen’s Chang’an Avenue on June 5, 1989. White shirt, black pants, bags in both hands. His face hidden from the cameras of the foreign press. He stood his ground and the tanks came to a halt. The young man climbed onto the lead tank to harangued the commander, then re-established his blocking position. Two men pulled the man into the crowd. Some people say they were police. Others say the two men helped him escape the police. His fate is unknown to this day.
His name is simply Tank Man.
And his act of courage is legend.
To view Tank Man’s heroic confrontation, please go to the following URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcvaSnmqZ40