‘Tank Man’ Remains A Mystery 25 Years Later

Tiananmen’s Brave ‘Tank Man’ Remains Mystery, 25 Years Later -- Julie Makinen, Seattle Times/L.A. Times

The standoff, just east of Tiananmen Square, lasted only a few minutes but was so tense that witnesses recall it felt like an eternity.

BEIJING — For 25 years, foreign reporters have sought to identify the brave, solitary figure in the most memorable photo to emerge from China’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. And still, the mystery of “Tank Man” endures.

Shortly after noon on June 5, 1989, the day after troops stormed through Beijing and into the square to crush the student-led political uprising that had paralyzed and electrified the capital for weeks, a lone man with shopping bags in both hands briefly stopped a column of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal Peace.

The lead vehicle halted. It moved right and left to avoid the defenseless man. Each time, he adjusted his position to remain in the tank’s path. Finally, he shifted the bags to one hand, jumped onto the tank and appeared to talk to its driver.

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My Comment: Centuries from now .... that is an image that will forever be a part of China and of the 20th century. A documentary on "Tank Man" is here.