Tank Man

"Tankman" redirects here. For the operator of a military tank, see Tank § Crew. For the American wrestler, see Calvin Tankman. For the Adobe Flash webseries, see Tankman (series).

"Tank Man"
"Tank Man" temporarily stops the advance of Type 59 tanks on June 5, 1989, in Beijing. This photograph (one of six similar versions) was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press.
NationalityChinese (presumed)
Other names
  • Unknown Protester
  • Unknown Rebel
  • Wang Weilin (posited)
Known forIconic photo of him obstructing tanks during the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

The Tank Man (also known as the Unknown Protester or Unknown Rebel) is the nickname given to an unidentified individual, presumed to be a Chinese man, who stood in front of a column of Type 59 tanks leaving Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 5, 1989. On the previous day, the government of China cleared the square of protesting students after six weeks of standoff, in the process killing hundreds or even thousands of people mostly in other parts of Beijing.[1][2] The lead tank halted to avoid running him over, the man then climbed on top of the tank. The PLA soldiers operating the tank then opened a hatch used for entering and exiting the tank, and briefly talked to the man. The incident was filmed and shared to a worldwide audience. Internationally, it is considered one of the most iconic images of all time.[3][4][5] Inside China, the image and the accompanying events are subject to censorship.[6][7]

There is no reliable information about the identity or fate of Tank Man; the story of what happened to the tank crew is also unknown.[8] At least one witness has stated that Tank Man was not the only person to have blocked the tanks during the protest.[10]

  1. ^ Mathews, Jay. "The Myth of Tiananmen". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Roth, Richard (June 4, 2009). "There Was No "Tiananmen Square Massacre" - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimeretrospect was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Pitts, Joe. "Tiananmen Anniversary" 2009 Congressional Record, Vol. 155, Page H6079 (June 3, 2009)
  5. ^ Corless, Kieron (May 24, 2006). "Time In – Plugged In – Tank Man". Time Out.
  6. ^ Hernández, Javier C. (June 3, 2019). "30 Years After Tiananmen, 'Tank Man' Remains an Icon and a Mystery". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Ables, Kelsey (August 7, 2019). "The forbidden images of the Chinese internet". CNN. Artsy. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  8. ^ "Photographer Jeff Widener". BBC interview (Video ed.). 2014. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021.
  9. ^ "Shao Jiang interview". Amnesty International (Video posted for 25th anniversary ed.). Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2014. Those interviewed include photographer Stuart Franklin with Magnum for TIME, who was on the 5th floor balcony of the Beijing Hotel.
  10. ^ Shao Jiang, who was a student leader, said: "I witnessed a lot of the people standing up, blocking the tanks."[9]