Tiananmen Rebel

The Rebel of Tiananmen
By: Max

Map of China In the spring of 1989, there was a movement to gain support for democracy in China. The movement started out small, but soon grew to over a million people! The Chinese who supported the democratic movement gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese in the square were very organized. They had their own newspaper, radio station, and a statue symbolizing democracy.

On the night of June 4, 1989, tanks sent by the Chinese government rolled into Tiananmen Square and killed hundreds of civilians, including teachers, students, doctors, and children!

On June 5^th a rebel, thought to be Wang Weilin, a nineteen year old student, blocked the path of a column of 18 tanks near Tiananmen Square. He crawled up on the leading tank and said to the tank driver: Tank

“Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you.”

The rebel crawled off of the tank and was swallowed up by the nearby crowd. No one knows what happened to the unknown rebel after that. The film of this man standing up against the tanks was broadcast around the world, as an example of an individual standing up to a whole government. China's Flag

I think that what this man did in Tiananmen Square was very brave. In a communist ruled country you can be imprisoned or killed for speaking out against the government.

Citations

Web Sites

Iyer, Pico."The Unknown Rebel" Time 100 at <http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/rebel4.html> (March, 2003).

Images

Image of map of China from "ArtToday.com" <http://members.clipart.com/en/index> (2003).

All other photographs and clipart used on this page from "Microsoft Office Design Gallery Live" <http://dgl.microsoft.com/?CAG=1> Images free for non-profit and personal use. (December-March, 2003).