Remembering Tiananmen 25 Years Later

Photographer Recalls 25 Years Ago When Man Defied Tank In Tiananmen

BEIJING — He captured the photograph that immortalized the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989: a lone man in a white shirt standing before a row of tanks, seemingly fearless after the Chinese military has unleashed a bloody assault on pro-democracy protesters.

Nearly 25 years later, photographer Jeff Widener is left with bittersweet memories of that day and place. Sweet, because his “Tank Man” photo brought him international fame and serendipitously connected him, two decades later, to the love of his life. Bitter, because so many people died in a military assault that China’s government, to this day, refuses to acknowledge.

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My Comment: I was in Quanzhou (Fujian Province) during this time .... I will never forget the sick and pain looks that my Chinese hosts and friends had during that week and the weeks later. It was a terrible time .... and on a certain level .... China has not been the same since. My hope is that by the 50th anniversary there will be some reconciliation and open discussion on what happened that day.