Remembering the “Tank Man”, June 5, 1989
KG
Circa May/June 1989, Beinjing’s Tiananmen Square became the focus for large-scale protests, which were crushed by China’s Communist rulers.
On 3 to 4 June, troops began to move towards Tiananmen Square, opening fire, crushing, and arresting protesters to regain control of the area.
The events produced one of the most iconic photos of the 20th century – a lone protester standing in front of a line of army tanks.
Who was Tank Man?
On 5 June, a man faced down a line of tanks heading away from the square. He was carrying two shopping bags and was filmed walking to block the tanks from moving past.
No-one knows for sure how many people were killed.
At the end of June 1989, the Chinese government said 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel had died.
Other estimates have ranged from hundreds to many thousands.
In 2017, newly released UK documents revealed that a diplomatic cable from then British Ambassador to China, Sir Alan Donald, had said that 10,000 had died.
Credit: Google
