Tiananmen Square Massacre: What Happened to ‘Tank Man’?

32 years have passed since the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. The June 4th incident is remembered in thinly veiled terms in China, when in fact the events that took place on that day in the early summer of 1989 rank among the worst bloodbaths in modern political history.

This was when hundreds of civilians were brutally killed by the 200,000-strong People’s Liberation Army during a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy student protesters, sparking outrage around the world. had run.

Deng Xiaoping’s ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) called in the army to quell six weeks of protests in the country after martial law was declared in the capital.

After the death of reformist party leader Hu Yaobang on April 15, more than a million Chinese youth occupied Beijing’s iconic Tiananmen Square to go on hunger strike, demand an end to state corruption, greater transparency and increased civil liberties. was

The protests in Tiananmen Square were an embarrassment to the Chinese government ahead of the visit of Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, as the Soviet leader’s visit was being watched by special eyes around the world, so the protesters took to the streets of the capital. An urgent need for removal was felt.

After initially trying to use non-violent methods to disperse the protesters, they were threatened that they had one hour to leave, but after just five minutes, 27 Chinese troops arrived. The members of the th group started firing on the crowd with automatic rifles.

Snipers rained bullets on the protesters from the roofs of nearby buildings. The soldiers further tortured the wounded with rifles, after which armored vehicles rushed the protesters, who trampled the students forming the human chain.

After the brutality, blood was flowing in the drains instead of water while bulldozers were used to dispose of the bodies and the injured were taken to the hospital in cycle rickshaws.

On the one hand, the CPC insisted that the massacre was necessary to prevent ‘revolutionary riots’, on the other hand, US President George HW Bush condemned the violence and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said that she would not condemn the incident. The latter are in shock.

China officially put the death toll at less than 300, while the Chinese Red Cross at the scene claimed the actual death toll was closer to 2,700. Sir Alan Donald, Britain’s ambassador to China at the time, said the death toll was much higher.

Writing in a diplomatic letter released in 2017, Sir Allen expressed his belief that the true death toll was 10,454. He also claimed that the 27th Group of the Chinese Army, which he said were 60 percent illiterate and primitive barbarian warriors, were specially selected for this task because they obeyed unquestioningly. were famous.

In another recently released diplomatic letter, the same diplomat warned Ten Downing Street that a massacre was inevitable. He wrote on May 20, 1989 that ‘the Chinese government has decided that there is no way to avoid bloodshed.’

Who was ‘Tank Man’?

In recent history, Tiananmen Square is most famous for the ‘Tank Man’. The image of this lone man standing motionless with two shopping bags in front of four tanks in the square is considered the most famous image of any protest or resistance.

The extraordinary moment was captured by five foreign press photographers watching the horrors below from a hotel balcony.

This photograph of Stuart Franklin appeared in ‘Time’ and ‘Life’ magazines when the roll of film was smuggled out of China hidden in a tea box.

Charlie Cole, winner of the World Press Photo of the Year award in 1990, was only able to pull off this photo because he hid the roll of film in a toilet paper roll and replaced it with a dummy film. The roll was handed over to the Chinese authorities. He was also forced to sign a confession stating that he had taken the photographs in violation of martial law.

Another photographer, Stuart Widner, took a photo of the moment for the Associated Press, becoming the most submitted photo for publication.

The ‘Tankman’ was identified as 19-year-old archeology student Wang Weilan, but what happened to him is still unknown.

Former Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin says he is unaware of his arrest, but insists he was not killed. Some believe he would have fled to Taiwan.

The story of ‘Tankman’ was made the subject of Lucy Kirkwood’s play ‘Chamerika’ in 2013.

Today, the Tiananmen Square incident is never mentioned in Chinese media or taught in schools. The presence of a heavy police force at the place points to the incident that took place 29 years ago.

However, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded that China “provide a full account of those killed, detained or missing.”

Chinese artist Beidou Cao has also launched a social media campaign to mark the anniversary of the incident, in which he called on young people from around the world to ‘tank man’ in front of prominent landmarks to express their opposition to the still authoritarian regime in China. He has encouraged them to pose in front of important places by making a similar appearance.
Children’s cartoon characters ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘Peppa Pig’ were pictured holding shopping bags like Tankmen, after which Beijing banned them.