Editing Tank Man (section)

== Obstruction ==
At the northeast edge of [[Tiananmen Square]], along [[Chang'an Avenue]], shortly after noon on June 5, 1989, the day after the Chinese government's violent suppression of the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen protests]], "Tank Man" stood in the middle of the wide avenue, directly in the path of a column of approaching [[Type 59 tank|Type 59]] tanks.<ref>{{cite news |last=Makinen |first=Julie |date=4 June 2014 |title=Tiananmen Square mystery: Who was 'Tank Man'? |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-tiananmen-square-tank-man-20140603-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=16 April 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/04/china-tiananmen-square-beijing?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other|title=The west is complicit in the 30-year cover-up of Tiananmen|last=Ai|first=Weiwei|date=4 June 2019|work=The Guardian – Australia edition}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Ranjani |title=Daily Quiz - On protest movements |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/daily-quiz-on-protest-movements/article65418904.ece |website=The Hindu |access-date=2 November 2022 |language=en-IN |date=16 May 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Stuart Franklin, who was on assignment for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, told ''[[The New York Times]]'': "At some point, shots were fired and the tanks carried on down the road toward us, leaving Tiananmen Square behind, until blocked by a lone protester."<ref name="NYTimeretrospect" /> He wore a white shirt and black trousers, and he held two shopping bags.<ref>{{cite book|last=Langely|first=Andrew|title=Tiananmen Square: Massacre Crushes China's Democracy Movement|publisher=Compass Point Books|year=2009|page=45|isbn=978-0-7565-4101-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1tU90qvym94C&pg=PT23}}</ref> As the tanks came to a stop, the man gestured at them with one of the bags. In response, the lead tank attempted to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly stepped into the path of the tank in a show of [[nonviolent action]].<ref name="Time"/> After repeatedly attempting to go around, the lead tank stopped its engines, and the armored vehicles behind it followed suit. There was a short pause with the man and the tanks having reached a quiet, still impasse.

Having successfully brought the column to a halt, the man climbed onto the hull of the buttoned-up lead tank and, after briefly stopping at the driver's hatch, appeared in video footage of the incident to call into various ports in the tank's turret. He then climbed atop the turret and seemed to have a short conversation with a crew member at the gunner's hatch. After ending the conversation, the man descended from the tank. The man is then seen briefly speaking with a second person who is walking his bicycle across the street in front of the stationary tanks, as they begin to start their engines again. It is unclear whether he is still seeking to obstruct the tanks.

At this point, the video footage shows two figures in blue running over to pull the man away and lead him to a nearby crowd; the tanks then continued on their way.<ref name="Time"/> Eyewitnesses are unsure who pulled him aside. [[Charlie Cole (photographer)|Charlie Cole]], who was there for ''[[Newsweek]]'', claimed it was Chinese government [[Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau|agents]],<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4313282.stm |title=Picture Power:Tiananmen Standoff |work=BBC News |access-date=October 7, 2005 }}</ref> while [[Jan Wong]], who was there for ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', thought that the men who pulled him away were concerned bystanders.<ref name="wong">{{cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Jan |title=Jan Wong, August 1988 - August 1994 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/jan-wong-august-1988---august-1994/article4287717/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |agency=The Globe and Mail}}</ref>