(Hong Kong= Yonhap News) Chung Joon-ho reporting = The whereabout of the man who blocked tank (column) during Tiananmen Democracy Protest in 1989 and had become the symbol of the democracy movement has been finally uncovered. His name is Wang Weilin .
Ming-bao of Hong Kong reported on June 4th that Wang escaped to Taiwan fleeing from Chinese authorities' dragnet at the time, and is currently an adviser (on ceramic artifacts and antiques to) Taiwan's National Palace Museum in southern Taiwan.
On June 5, 1989, Wang stood in front of (a column of) 4 tanks entering Tiananmen Square, blocking its advance, whose photo turned himself into a symbol of the uprising, but had disappeared since then, his whereabout remaining a mystery.
The world media which published the photo all lauded his courage, calling him the great hero of 20th century.
There has been a rumor that Jiang Zemin who inherited power after the Tiananmen Uprising gave confidential order to track down Wang Weilin and executed him in secret, but it turned out to be false in the end.
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According a professor who claimed to be his friend, he was the captain of the Mawangduei Archaeology Team of Changsha, Hunan(my note: Mawangduei is the site of well-known ancient tombs) in early June 1989 when the pro-democracy demonstrations broke out in the Chinese capital. He traveled with a union group to Beijing to take part.
Wang Weilin became the member of Beijing Worker's Self-governing Association. On June 5th, he blocked a column of advancing tanks. Afterwards, he escaped Beijing with the help of his colleagues, and hid at some other locations for three years and seven months.
Wang Weilin is (not a real name but) an alias he used while working at the archeology team.
After arriving in Taiwan via Hong Kong, he got married there. While he is not in good health, he nevertheless insisted he wanted to convey to Chinese people the ideal of democracy and freedom by revealing his whereabout.
After arriving in Taiwan via Hong Kong, he got married there. While he is not in good health, he nevertheless insisted he wanted to convey to Chinese people the ideal of democracy and freedom by revealing his whereabout.
Wang Dan, one of the ring leaders of student movement at the time, proclaimed on the 17th anniversary of Tiananmen Uprising, "The memory of Tiananmen Uprising may be fading, but I am convinced that the day will come when the meaning of Tiananmen Democracy Uprising would come alive again."
Wang Dan was jailed for 10 years after the uprising, and later took political asylum in U.S. in '98. He is now pursuing Ph.D. degree in History at Harvard University. He is still active in promoting democracy and human right in China, including going on hunger strike at the anniversary every year.
Wang Jun-tao, who also led the democracy protest and a member of Communist Youth League along with Wang Dan, was arrested in '91 for conspiracy to overthrow government, and sentenced to 13 years in prison, and jailed. He went to U.S. in '94. He got his Ph. D. degree at Columbia University recently, according to Asia Weekly.
jooho@yna.co.kr
Wang Dan was jailed for 10 years after the uprising, and later took political asylum in U.S. in '98. He is now pursuing Ph.D. degree in History at Harvard University. He is still active in promoting democracy and human right in China, including going on hunger strike at the anniversary every year.
Wang Jun-tao, who also led the democracy protest and a member of Communist Youth League along with Wang Dan, was arrested in '91 for conspiracy to overthrow government, and sentenced to 13 years in prison, and jailed. He went to U.S. in '94. He got his Ph. D. degree at Columbia University recently, according to Asia Weekly.
jooho@yna.co.kr
/end my translation