Thirty-seven years ago a lone Chinese protester blocked a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Blvd. June 5, 1989 in front of the Beijing Hotel one day after the Tiananmen massacre. Cameras and videos captured the young man's defiance of governmental power.
Steel versus flesh.
After a conversation with the lead tank's driver of the first tank, security forces hustled him into the crowd. He has never been seen since and his identity remains a mystery, although some journalists have reported that his name was Wang Weilin, a nineteen-year-old student, who was later charged by the authorities with "political hooliganism" and "attempting to subvert members of the People's Liberation Army". This claim has been refuted by many sources as have reports that Tank Man had been executed by a firing squad several months after the incident.
"I can't confirm whether this young man you mentioned was arrested or not," a CCP secretary had said, leading to rumors that the young man has been in hiding on the mainland.
Whatever the truth the world owes this man the greatest honor for his courage in standing for truth along with the thousands of students in Tiananmen Square. Their memory has been obscured by the Communist Party's campaign for wealth and the two months of protests ignored by the young of China.
They don't want a revolution.
They only desire iPhones.
Same as the rest of the world. All their choicecs have been subordinated by technology. The phone in thier hands offers utopia. Potato chips and phones. The manana of this civilization. We can't have everything.
So I honor the man on the tank. Today and everyday.
Watch this video;
One man against the power of the state.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nXT8lSnPQ&
Tankman is my hero.
