Tank Man

Last night I saw Frontline on PBS and they aired a segment titled “Tank Man.” Tank Man is the student who heroically stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square back in 1989. No one really knows what became of that young man. Some reports claim he was arrested, some claim he was executed, but no one really knows.

In this piece, filmmaker Antony Thomas interviewed four current Beijing University students and showed them the iconic photographs of Tank Man, asking them for their impressions and what the photos meant to them.

It was fascinating to watch their faces, because they had NO IDEA what the photo was of. They had never seen the photo and were guessing at what it might be – but admitted they were guessing. One student asked if it was artwork and had someone created the photo (presumably using Photoshop or some other program.)

The program then went on to explain how Yahoo, Google, Cisco, and other IT and internet providers willingly engage in the Chinese government’s censorship activities. A Google search of Tiananmen Square in China produces only tourist photos, no photos of the struggle and protest. Anyplace else in the world you will get vivid photos of the clash between government and students, who were joined by workers –and the deaths and violence that occurred. As a sign of ongoing censorship, this week – in anticipation of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre – Twitter was “turned off” in China, and many internet providers were told to “perform maintenance.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/view/

This story encompasses many issues we have been discussing in our class: emerging nations, the change from communism to some version of a market-based economy, how technology is changing the world but how it can be manipulated or censored, how economic change does not necessarily usher in democracy, and what exactly are people looking for: improved lives or more say in how they are governed.

Nicholas Kristof’s piece on June 3rd recounts his memories of the night – he was there as the Beijing bureau chief for the New York Times. He also asks some of the same questions we do and tells us that for many urban Chinese, life has improved and if they protest they will be arrested, so they just accept the improved economic conditions with no change in government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/opinion/04kristof.html

Carol Starmack