Tank Man

25 years later, Tank Man lives on as a symbol of courage — just not in China

The most famous image from the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square is unknown to many Chinese. The Chinese government has kept the image of a lone man staring down a Chinese tank out of China, even as the image has spread across the world.The most famous image from the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square is unknown to many Chinese. The Chinese government has kept the image of a lone man staring down a Chinese tank out of China, even as the image has spread across the world.

The famous 'tank man', alone and unarmed, stands passively in front of a convoy of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal Peace in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The iconic image is banned in China but has permeated popular and protest culture around the globe

For many Chinese born after the Tiananmen Square protests, 1989 is the year nothing happened

Global Politics