Anybody watched this before?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/view/

3/10/2013 11:16:56 PM

How much did you know about June Fourth before you came here?



I've always thought the lead tank commander that decided to stop was nearly as brave as the man on the street. I wonder if the soldier was reprimanded.

[Edited on March 11, 2013 at 12:33 AM. Reason : .]

3/11/2013 12:27:40 AM

This scene is explained by Chinese government as: this soldier keeps restrained and doesn't kill the tank man. What great mercy he offers!

3/11/2013 2:57:40 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nXT8lSnPQ

3/11/2013 3:23:57 PM

I'm sure this took some balls for both the protester and the lead tank driver. Wonderful Frontline documentary.

3/12/2013 2:27:12 AM

I remember one Chinese voiceover talking about how crazy the man was, that the protestors were just crazy, fringe folks and this guy represented that.

3/12/2013 11:39:42 AM

Protestors are always "crazy, fringe folks" according to any government.

The lesson of this incident was to properly cordon off the entire area and arrest everyone so no protestors can leave with photographs.

3/12/2013 11:52:30 AM

This photograph was shot by a Western journalist from a balcony of the nearby hotel. Even so, the Chinese government agents did try to confiscate the rest of his film, but he was smart enough to hide the roll with this photograph in the hotel room toilet tank and retrieve it later. And they did cordon the area in the best way you can cordon the largest public square in the world. The tanks in the photo are actually leaving Tiananman square. And of course if this happened in today's world, the photos would be online within seconds of being taken. Looks like Chinese government did a pretty good job of deleting this particular incident from the public mind over there. Something I learned from this documentary is that most of the civilian deaths and injuries happened OUTSIDE the square. What I found amazing is how the citizens were able to turn the fist wave of military around by surrounding the convoys and appealing to soldiers' consciousness.

3/12/2013 2:32:47 PM

perhaps you feel you are being treated unfairly?

[Edited on March 12, 2013 at 3:00 PM. Reason : there fixed it]

3/12/2013 2:59:59 PM

Quote :

"What I found amazing is how the citizens were able to turn the fist wave of military around by surrounding the convoys and appealing to soldiers' consciousness."

If I remember, they were able to appeal to consciences the first time around because the first military unit on the spot was one drawn primarily from that region. Therefore, the officers and soldiers were a lot more sympathetic to the plight of the protestors. It required the PLA to bring in units made up of soldiers from the countryside, officers and soldiers who spoke different dialects, to finally bring the hammer down on the protestors. Even then, many of those units were hesitant or called for more gentle actions. Post Tienanmen, the PLA did a massive purge of the officer corps against officers who hesitated.

3/12/2013 4:53:32 PM

The commander



Bloody square

5/24/2013 5:58:53 PM

We must remember, 24 yrs ago, June 4th.

6/4/2013 9:28:32 PM

http://qz.com/90591/weibo-users-play-cat-and-mouse-and-duck-with-chinese-censors-on-tiananmen-anniversary/

6/4/2013 10:31:07 PM