Courage

In some ways, China has probably changed more in the past 20 years than any other country in history, with the possible exception of the U.S. during Reconstruction but then again that doesn't really count since things ultimately came to an awful end.

One way in which China hasn't changed much is in the area of political dissent. Today marks 20 years since the Chinese government turned on its own people and massacred hundreds in Tiananmen Square.

Go to China today and Google "Tiananmen Square" and all you'll get are photos of Tiananmen Square with tourists or lots of pictures of Tiananmen with doves flying over (I've done it). There will be no pictures of the protest. The Tiananmen Square massacre has effectively been erased from China's history and the Chinese government intends to keep it that way. In the days leading up today's 20th anniversary the government reportedly has blocked YouTube, Twitter, Blogspot (no RANdom's Walk in the Middle Kingdom), Hotmail, Flickr, the Huffington Post and many other sites.

On Friday it'll also be 20 years since an unknown man stepped in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square and in doing so stepped into history. To this day no one outside of China knows who this man is or was. Various reports indicate that he was executed, is living in hiding in China, or is living in Taiwan.

A gripping story from the New York Times about the making of one of the "tank man" photos that captured the attention of the world...

As the tanks neared the Beijing Hotel, the lone young man walked toward the middle of the avenue waving his jacket and shopping bag to stop the tanks. I kept shooting in anticipation of what I felt was his certain doom. But to my amazement, the lead tank stopped, then tried to move around him. But the young man cut it off again. Finally, the PSB (Public Security Bureau) grabbed him and ran away with him. Stuart and I looked at each other somewhat in disbelief at what we had just seen and photographed.

I then placed the tank roll in a plastic film can and wrapped it in a plastic bag and attached it to the flush chain in the tank of the toilet. I hid my cameras as best I could in the room. Within an hour, the PSB forced their way in and started searching the room. After about five minutes, they discovered the cameras and ripped the film out of each, seemingly satisfied that they had neutralized the coverage. They then forced me to sign a confession that I had been photographing during martial law and confiscated my passport.

Sometime later, I was able to return to the room and retrieve the film, which I took over to the A.P. office and developed.

and the video of "tank man" that puts a lump in my throat 20 years later...



lastly, an overview of the Tiananmen Square protest...



Update: A never seen before photo of "tank man" from a completely different angle. In many ways this is a much more powerful photo than all the others. Definitely a must see.