Tianamen Square - The Tank Man (2006) SBS

http://www.sbs.com.au/whatson/index.php3?id=1361 Tianamen Square: The Tank Man Tuesday 7th November at 8.30pm On Tuesday, 11 November at 8.30pm on SBS Television, Cutting Edge reveals the mystery behind the stance of one unarmed man before a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, in what represents one of the most startling and confronting acts towards sovereignty ever filmed in Tiananmen Square: The Tank Man. Captured by Western photographers watching nearby, this confrontation on June 5, 1989 became an icon for the fight for freedom around the world. Just as the cameras rolled on that day, veteran filmmaker Anthony Thomas returns to China 17 years later to recall the importance of this defiance. In the search for The Tank Man Thomas draws on interviews with Chinese and Western eyewitnesses and recounts the amazing events that preceded the resistance and the massacre of ordinary people in Tiananmen Square. In the weeks leading up to the massacre, students protested over the hardships, government corruption and 40 years under repression communist government rule. Soon attitudes hardened and tens of millions openly demonstrated against the countrys military surrounding Tiananmen Square. The move from student uprising to a worker uprising is what really scared the Chinese Government. Jim Laurie, Former ABC Foreign Correspondent. The protesters including Navy personnel, doctors, wives and children all took to the streets to seek reform not revolution. As the army closed in from four different military districts in China, order was given to clear Tiananmen Square by 6.00am on June 4. Tens of thousands of people were arrested, unknown numbers died from shootings, more were later executed and some still remain in prison. If you have ever seen security people man-handle a Chinese citizen, they are really brutal. Jan Wong, the Global and Mail, Toronto. Years down the track students of Beijing University have no recollection or understanding when shown a photograph of The Tank Man. The embarrassment for the government to have shed so many lives led to strict censorship of the media, limiting the evidence even in overseas-owned online resources. Leading US companies such as Yahoo, Cisco, Google and Microsoft have compromised both the integrity of their product and their duties as responsible corporate citizens. - Rep. Christopher Smith, New Jersey. Since the heroic stand of The Tank Man China has changed beyond recognition. The identity and fate of The Tank Man still remains a mystery but the symbolism he represents has provided enduring power for man kind. AVI File Details ======================================== Name.........: Tianamen.Square.-.The.Tank.Man.2006.TVRip.XviD.avi Filesize.....: 696 MB (or 713,694 KB or 730,822,656 bytes) Runtime......: 00:52:37 (157,871 fr) Video Codec..: XviD Video Bitrate: 1725 kb/s Audio Codec..: 0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3 Audio Bitrate: 115 kb/s (57/ch, stereo) VBR LAME3.97b# Frame Size...: 608x352 (1.73:1) [=19:11] Language.....: English ed2k://|file|Tianamen.Square.-.The.Tank.Man.2006.TVRip.XviD.avi|730822656|D01085E210494B69DD5CD5F1742CEA2E|/