Tank Man

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

On the morning of June 5, 1989, a long column of tanks proceeded east along Chang'an Avenue after the military's clearing operations. A lone man carrying shopping bags stepped into the path of the lead tank and refused to move. When the tank attempted to steer around him, he repeatedly shifted positions to block its movement. The tanks came to a complete stop rather than run him over. The man then climbed onto the lead tank, where he appeared to speak with members of the PLA inside before returning to the road. Video footage shows two figures in blue running over to pull the man away and lead him to a nearby crowd; eyewitnesses are unsure who pulled him aside. Charlie Cole, there for Newsweek, claimed it was Chinese government agents, while Jan Wong, there for The Globe and Mail, thought the men were concerned bystanders. Little reliable information exists regarding the identity or fate of either the protester or the crew of the lead tank. The Sunday Express was the first to circulate the name 'Wang Weilin' for the protester, though this identification has never been confirmed. In July 2017, Apple Daily reported that the Tank Man's real name may be Zhang Weimin, a native of Shijingshan, Beijing, who was 24 years old in 1989. The man who gave the story claimed that he was in the same cell with Zhang in Beijing Yanqing Prison. The verdict stated that he struck a tank with a brick and was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, later reduced to 20 years, and he was released on parole in 2007.

Reader's Guide

Tank Man has become an enduring symbol of nonviolent resistance, recognized globally through photographs and video footage. In April 1998, Time magazine included 'The Unknown Rebel' in its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Life magazine's 2003 book 100 Photos That Changed the World also featured the photographs of the tank confrontation. Despite the image's global status as a symbol of individual courage, the Chinese government continues to restrict the distribution and discussion of the photographs and the broader protests on the Internet. Multiple documentaries and exhibitions related to the Tiananmen protests highlight the tank confrontation. The Chinese government has made few statements about the incident; Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary, said in a 1990 interview with Barbara Walters that the man was 'never killed,' and in a 2000 interview with Mike Wallace stated, 'He was never arrested' and 'I don't know where he is now.' The figure remains a subject of censorship and speculation, with his true identity and fate unknown.

Did You Know?

• The Sunday Express was the first to circulate the name 'Wang Weilin' for the protester, though this identification has never been confirmed.
• In July 2017, Apple Daily reported that the Tank Man's real name may be Zhang Weimin, a native of Shijingshan, Beijing, who was 24 years old in 1989.
• Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary, said in a 1990 interview that the man was 'never killed,' and in a 2000 interview stated, 'He was never arrested.'
• On August 20, 2020, a trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War showed footage of Tank Man; on video platforms in China like Bilibili, the segment was replaced with a black screen.
• On June 4, 2021, searches for the Tank Man image and videos were censored by Microsoft's Bing search engine worldwide, which Microsoft said was 'due to an accidental human error.'