this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
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Another ironic example of Westerners not understanding what tank man was actually doing: stopping the tanks from leaving Tianmanmen Square. He was doing the opposite of an act of defiance against government involvement; he wanted them to be involved. Also, he left the scene unscathed when other civilians came and scurried him away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8zFLIftGk
Maybe Western media always show us a cropped version of the tank man photo, with Tianmanmen Square removed, because it doesn’t fit in with their narrative.
[Edit to replace deleted YouTube video.]
Jesus fucking christ. I watched this shit happen. I watched the uncut footage air. That man was fucking pissed. He kept blocking the tanks while absolutely losing his shit screaming at the tank. Neither of us was there so neither of us knows why or what he was screaming but it was most definitely a clear act of defiance. You cannot in any way say that he was asking them to "go back" and "stay involved".
Here is the footage.
https://media.gettyimages.com/id/450068672/video/a-lone-man-stops-a-convoy-of-tanks-during-the-tiananmen-square-protests-in-beijing-1989.mp4?s=mp4-640x640-gi&k=20&c=CCERCYPtGDpeNsNsDmVMA5LAovD-byP0E_f4d1oHzgA%3D
That’s just a shorter version of the video I posted. And I don’t think the full footage ever aired on TV, because it’s around ten or twenty minutes long, mostly of him on top of the tank having a conversation with the crew.
We have reached so many levels of irony that I do not know which one the original meme maker was on.
https://zezvaz.com/about/
I assume he doesn’t know because almost no Westerners seem to.
Probably but the irony adds a layer of comedy. By the way the video you linked above seems to be broken.
Thanks, fixed.
There's a lot of misinformation about this event, which was formally acknowledged by the USA fairly recently. He did leave unharmed, I was surprised to hear anybody thought otherwise. However, you are stretching credulity by claiming he was pro-government. Seeing as he was never located, I can at least concede that neither of us know what he was thinking at the time.
That’s a blank link.
Hah, the video must have been taken down last week. I figured it might eventually be.
Here’s another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8zFLIftGk
Upon watching the video then reading further, they seem to have left the square to clear nearby streets. Your comment says he wanted them to stay. Therefore you’re saying he wanted them not to continue clearing the area? Or are you saying he wanted them to continue to maintain the square?
He seems to be blocking their exiting the square, so it appears he wanted them to remain in it. I don’t know where the tanks were going. Perhaps back to base, perhaps somewhere else.
Edit to add: Back to base seems most likely, because this was on June 5th, the day after the protests had ended.
I think he was just a weirdo
They cleared the side streets after this. How does blocking equal wanting them to stay? Seems like wanting them to stop.
That sounds so strange, how do we expect them to clear entire streets if they can't even get past a single guy armed with grocery bags?
How does not wanting to run a guy over equal an inability to?
Can you explain the relevance?
The video you linked to says that the footage was spliced together from a 2006 documentary aired by PBS, here's a summary
The Incident: On June 5, 1989, a day after the Chinese army violently suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, an unarmed man, later known as "Tank Man," stood his ground in front of a line of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal Peace.
Iconic Image: Captured by Western journalists, this image became a powerful symbol of defiance and the struggle for freedom worldwide.
Documentary's Focus: The FRONTLINE documentary, "The Tank Man," explores the events surrounding the Tiananmen Square protests, the identity of "Tank Man," and the significance of his act of defiance. Filmmaker's Investigation:
They were not pro-democracy lmfao they were maoists protesting against SWCC
Source: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
At least the other comment had the decency to provide sources for their statements
Martial law remained in effect until it was officially lifted on January 11, 1990. They stayed there and kept harassing people. They didnt leave the city, these tanks were not going home and tankman wasn't trying to keep them there. His source doesn't even say what he says it says.
Wiki
You don’t know where they were going any more than I do. All we know is they were leaving the Square, and he was standing to stop them. We don’t know what conversation he had with the person in the tank (that part of the video was clipped out, presumably for brevity, because it goes on for several minutes).
I will bet anything you never saw images of the 'peaceful protesters' burning busses with people in them, lynching cops, etc... And tanks have no home, they are clearly leaving the square tho. Get over it.