The incident took place on the Cháng Ān Dà Jiē (长安大街), or “Great Avenue of Chang’an” just a minute away from Tiananmen, which leads into the Forbidden City, Beijing, on June 5, 1989, the day after the Chinese government began cracking down violently on the protests. The man stood alone in the middle of the road as the tanks approached him. He appeared to be holding two bags of some sort, one in each hand. As the tanks came to a stop, he appeared to be trying to wave them away. In response, the front tank attempted to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly stepped into the path of the tank in a show of passive resistance. After blocking the tanks, the man climbed up onto the top of the lead tank and had a conversation with the driver. Reports of what was said to the driver vary, including “Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you”; “Go back, turn around, and stop killing my people”; and “Go away.” Video footage show that anxious onlookers then pulled the man away and absorbed him into the crowd and the tanks continued on their way. Some suspect the onlookers may have been plainclothes law enforcement, but those claims have not been confirmed. A British newspaper also claimed that he had been executed, several days after the incident, but these claims have not been confirmed either.
Today, the square seems much more peaceful. No tanks, but there continues to be an obvious military presence. While our guide was recalling the history of the square to our group, a member of the Chinese police walked towards us with a tape recorder in hand and started recording her discussions with us. We were later told that a few years ago our guide somehow was asked to pose with a tourist from Australia in front of a poster that ended up being negative propoganda and the guide and tourist were promptly hauled to jail where they sat for several hours before being released. In order to prevent a repeat of this spectacle, I decided to take several conspicuous photos of Sophia waving the Chinese flag in front of Chairman Mao’s portrait. IT WORKED!
