A man who stood in front of a column of tanks on June 5, 1989, the morning after the Chinese military had suppressed the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 by force, became known as the Tank Man or Unknown Protester. As the lead tank maneuvered to pass by the man, he repeatedly shifted his position in order to obstruct the tank's attempted path around him. The incident was filmed and seen worldwide.
Currently, there is no reliable information about the identity or fate of the tank man.
The incident took place near Tiananmen on Chang'an Avenue, which runs east-west along the north end of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests.[SUP][4][/SUP] The man stood in the middle of the wide avenue, directly in the path of a column of approaching Type 59 tanks. He wore a white shirt and black trousers, and held two shopping bags, one in each hand.[SUP][5][/SUP] As the tanks came to a stop, the man gestured towards the tanks with his bags. In response, the lead tank attempted to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly stepped into the path of the tank in a show of nonviolent action.[SUP][6][/SUP] After repeatedly attempting to go around rather than crush the man, the lead tank stopped its engines, and the armored vehicles behind it seemed to follow suit. There was a short pause with the man and the tanks having reached a quiet, still impasse.
Having successfully brought the column to a halt, the man climbed onto the hull of the buttoned-up lead tank and, after briefly stopping at the driver's hatch, appeared in video footage of the incident to call into various ports in the tank's turret. He then climbed atop the turret and seemed to have a short conversation with a crew member at the gunner's hatch. After ending the conversation, the man descended from the tank. The tank commander briefly emerged from his hatch, and the tanks restarted their engines, ready to continue on. At that point, the man, who was still standing within a meter or two from the side of the lead tank, leapt in front of the vehicle once again and quickly re-established the man–tank standoff.
Video footage shows two figures in blue pulling the man away and disappearing with him into a nearby crowd; the tanks continued on their way.[SUP][6][/SUP] Eyewitnesses are unsure who pulled him aside. Charlie Cole (there for Newsweek) said it was the Chinese government PSB (Public Security Bureau),[SUP][7][/SUP] while Jan Wong (there for The Globe and Mail) thought that the men who pulled him away were concerned bystanders. In April 1998, Time included the "Unknown Rebel" in a feature titled Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.[SUP][8]
Time magazine asserted that the Chinese Red Cross had given a figure of 2,600 deaths on the morning of June 4, though later this figure was retracted.[SUP][148][/SUP] A declassified NSA cable filed on the same day estimated 180–500 deaths up to the morning of June 4.[SUP][149][/SUP] Amnesty International's estimates puts the number of deaths at several hundred to close to 1,000,[SUP][148][/SUP][SUP][150][/SUP] while a Western diplomat that compiled estimates put the number at 300 to 1,000.[SUP][146][/SUP][/SUP]
Currently, there is no reliable information about the identity or fate of the tank man.
The incident took place near Tiananmen on Chang'an Avenue, which runs east-west along the north end of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests.[SUP][4][/SUP] The man stood in the middle of the wide avenue, directly in the path of a column of approaching Type 59 tanks. He wore a white shirt and black trousers, and held two shopping bags, one in each hand.[SUP][5][/SUP] As the tanks came to a stop, the man gestured towards the tanks with his bags. In response, the lead tank attempted to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly stepped into the path of the tank in a show of nonviolent action.[SUP][6][/SUP] After repeatedly attempting to go around rather than crush the man, the lead tank stopped its engines, and the armored vehicles behind it seemed to follow suit. There was a short pause with the man and the tanks having reached a quiet, still impasse.
Having successfully brought the column to a halt, the man climbed onto the hull of the buttoned-up lead tank and, after briefly stopping at the driver's hatch, appeared in video footage of the incident to call into various ports in the tank's turret. He then climbed atop the turret and seemed to have a short conversation with a crew member at the gunner's hatch. After ending the conversation, the man descended from the tank. The tank commander briefly emerged from his hatch, and the tanks restarted their engines, ready to continue on. At that point, the man, who was still standing within a meter or two from the side of the lead tank, leapt in front of the vehicle once again and quickly re-established the man–tank standoff.
Video footage shows two figures in blue pulling the man away and disappearing with him into a nearby crowd; the tanks continued on their way.[SUP][6][/SUP] Eyewitnesses are unsure who pulled him aside. Charlie Cole (there for Newsweek) said it was the Chinese government PSB (Public Security Bureau),[SUP][7][/SUP] while Jan Wong (there for The Globe and Mail) thought that the men who pulled him away were concerned bystanders. In April 1998, Time included the "Unknown Rebel" in a feature titled Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.[SUP][8]
Time magazine asserted that the Chinese Red Cross had given a figure of 2,600 deaths on the morning of June 4, though later this figure was retracted.[SUP][148][/SUP] A declassified NSA cable filed on the same day estimated 180–500 deaths up to the morning of June 4.[SUP][149][/SUP] Amnesty International's estimates puts the number of deaths at several hundred to close to 1,000,[SUP][148][/SUP][SUP][150][/SUP] while a Western diplomat that compiled estimates put the number at 300 to 1,000.[SUP][146][/SUP][/SUP]
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