The American photographer who shot the iconic image of a man standing in front of tanks at the 1989 Tiananmen protests says it’s time for the Chinese government to come clean about the bloody events.
Jeff Widener was an AP photo editor based in Bangkok when he was asked to cover a movement centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The day after the military crushed the protests on June 3-4, Widener took the shot of an unknown man holding shopping bags, facing a column of tanks. The photo of the ‘tank man’ went on to become an iconic image.
Widener now says he doesn’t understand why China’s leaders won’t admit to errors made and reveal the truth behind the crackdown.
“The US and European countries have made mistakes throughout history and they’ve reconciled those problems,” Widener said.
The 62-year-old joined AP as Southeast Asia picture editor.
He flew to Hong Kong, where he got a tourist visa through a travel agency, and made it through customs in Beijing.
With the protests in full swing, he developed a daily routine of riding a bicycle early in the morning to Tiananmen Square.
Asked to get a shot of military forces occupying the square, Widener headed to the Beijing Hotel, which had vantage points close to the action.
There, he met an American college exchange student, Kirk Martsen, who would play a key role in the tank man tale. Martsen acted as if he and Widener were old friends, allowing him to enter the hotel.
Early on June 5, he rushed to the balcony upon hearing the sound of approaching tanks. “A guy walks out with shopping bags... So I just watched him and waited. And they didn’t shoot him,” he said.
The man tried to block the tanks and climbed on the turret of one to converse with a crew member. Finally, he was whisked from the scene by two men in blue, whose identities, like that of the man himself, have never been known.
First Published: Jun 01, 2019 23:41 IST
