“Tank Man” by photojournalist Stuart Franklin.
25 years ago, pro-democracy demonstrators, mostly students, spent several weeks in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing China.
Statue in Tiananmen Square, June 1, 1989.
As a part part of the protest, statutes were erected in the square, including the “Goddess of Liberty” which has a strong likeness to the Statute of Liberty.
A young buy greets Chinese soldiers approaching Tiananmen Square. Photo: Dario Mitidieri/Getty Images.
The Chinese government sent 200,000 troops into the square in a government crackdown. From his motel balcony window, photojournalist Stuart Franklin documented events and took his iconic photo “Tank Man” of an unidentified man standing in front of a row of tanks.
Bodies of dead civilians. June 4, 1989.
On June 4, 1989, soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators, killing somewhere between 500 and 2500 people. Due to Chinese media censorship there were no news reports, photos, or footage of the crackdown inside of China.
Playing cards displayed at Tiananmen Square reference the date of the crackdown, June 4, 1989, and the AK-47 rifles used by Chinese authorities. (Instagram@crazdiamond)
Despite a government prohibition against any kind of public remembrance of the events of 25 years ago, people in China are finding sneaky ways to commemorate the events at Tiananmen Square.
Links
Remembering the Tiananmen Square Massacre