#Tiananmen30 Call to action: Sign and share the petition to find out what happened to the two Tiananmen Tank Men.

The power of two individuals to make a difference still remembered thirty years later. Help end the mystery of what happened to them.

Tank men face off on June 5, 1989 on Changán Avenue in Beijing, China

30 years ago today on June 5, 1989 in Beijing, following a massive and bloody crackdown after six weeks of protests that began in Tiananmen Square and spread across 400 cities in China, two men would risk all. One to protest what had taken place and the other for refusing to run him over. 

The lone protester was wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers carrying what appeared to be a shopping bag and walked out on the north edge of Tiananmen Square, along Chang'an Avenue and faced down a column of Type-59 tanks involved in the Tiananmen Square slaughter to express his moral outrage and blocked them.

Wider perspective of the Tank Man protest with the full column of tanks

The lead tank tried two drive around him, but the man repeatedly ran in front of the tank to prevent its passing. The tank driver turned off his engine and the rest of the column of tanks followed suit. The protester climbed on top of the tank and began to talk with them. Eventually he climbed back down and the tank driver turned the engines on but the protester once again blocked the tank column. This time two men, dressed in blue, approach the protester and escort him off the main avenue and disappeared into the crowd.

It is important to remember that the driver in that lead tank refused to run over the protester. Both individuals are heroes and both their fates remain unknown.

Between June 3 and June 5, 1989 other tank drivers ran over protesters

The 2004 Frontline Documentary "Tankman" explored the significance of this act, and attempted to discover what happened. They were unsuccessful. Now Initiatives for China has a campaign underway to petition the Chinese government to reveal the truth of what happened to the two Tiananmen tank men. Chinese human rights defenders and former prisoner of conscience Jianli Yang is disseminating a petition to get the Chinese government to tell us what happened to the “tank men.”  Please sign it and share it with others.