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China: 'Tank Man', the Tiananmen Hero...Alive in Taiwan(All Hail to Tank Man!)
Yonhap News (via daum.net) ^
| 06/04/06
| Chung Joon-ho
Posted on 06/03/2006 11:38:00 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
/begin my translation
'Tank Man,' the Tiananmen Hero...Alive in Taiwan
(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.
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.
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
/end my translation
TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: china; courage; democracy; escape; hero; humanright; taiwan; tankman; tiananmen; uprising
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To: Spktyr
I would rather pay money to go to the dark side of hell with people like Sgt. Luom than receive a fortune go to Elysian Fields with bill clinton or other shallow, soul-less weasels such as he. You're right about firepower. In addition there must be a worthy cause, and one that is clearly, emphatically, passionately, and relentlessly expounded in public discourse. This was not done in Viet Nam, and is not being done now in Iraq or Afghanistan. A virulent stupid virus has infected this country. It's adverse implications will be felt, and suffered, far beyond what most people imagine.
To: WestVirginiaRebel
Unfortunately China is not socially ready for democracy because 90 percent of her population is still rural poor (despite the pictures of modern skylines of Hong Kong and Shanghai). Historically when modern China tries to have a benign central government that tries to accomodate all the regional desires she degenerates into chaos because most of her uneducated population is not ready, which in turn ushers in authoritarian one man rule (Generalissimo Chiang Kai Sek or Chairman Mao Tse Tung) versus the chaos of the warlord period. Today China faces great financial weaknesses, her banks have bad loans that equal to half of China's GDP and no one in the Communist government knows what to do about it. I predict that within this century the Communist will lose control of China and the country will plunge into social chaos just like the 1920's when the Republic of 1911 failed (warlords and wealthy families took advantage of the democratic laws to protect their own interests and paralyzed the central government reforms) and lost control of most of the rural regions of China during the Great Depression. Democracy will just add to the chaos because most Chinese are family centric, not nationally centric (they will take care of their family/clan members first before they lift a hand to help a fellow stranger in a time of crisis) and add the fact most are barely educated rural poor. When a country undergoes a banking crisis and collapse, food and essentials become scarce as prices skyrocket because the national currency worth becomes less and less each day. Just read the accounts of what happened in China during the 1920's and during the Great Depression, and post World War II China, it does not paint a flattering picture of the Chinese society.
82
posted on
06/06/2006 9:30:45 AM PDT
by
Fee
(`+Great powers never let minor allies dictate who, where and when they must fight.)
To: Darkwolf377
I was thinking of the poor schlub that desperately tried to get the UN inspectors to save him in pre-invasion Iraq. The man ran up to the UN vehicle looking like he was in terror and pleading for mercy. He got in the vehicle desperate for help. The UN guy sat in the vehicle like he was embarrassed until the secret police dragged him away.
NEVER EVER LOOK TO THE UN TO HELP THE HELPLESS!
Michael Moore didn't put that clip in any documentary. I wounder if he went feet first into the shredder, fed to Usay's pet lions, or was dispatched in some more inventive way.
Funny how no one in the MSM ever thought to do a follow up of that guy. Socialists don't care about the individual, only the collective.(Unless it affects them of course.)
83
posted on
06/06/2006 9:53:32 AM PDT
by
IrishCatholic
(No local communist or socialist party chapter? Join the Democrats, it's the same thing.)
To: IrishCatholic
Yes, but the UN is the last, best hope for freedom, don't ya know.
If your idea of freedom is Oil for Food money that goes to rich ambassadors instead of hungry children, or underage rape by UN employees.
P.S. Anyone else recall how we kept hearing how the UN sanctions killed up to 1 million Iraqis? they recently revised that number down to a mere 10,000. ODDLY ENOUGH !
84
posted on
06/06/2006 11:13:13 AM PDT
by
Darkwolf377
(All Hail Buah The Wasp Killer!!!!!)
To: TigerLikesRooster
" 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."
given how brutally the chinese went after everyone they could find when this happen, does anyone really doubt that such an order might have been given?
To: TigerLikesRooster
I assume he did not know he was being filmed. So think about it - he did that thinking he was about to die anonymously. I wonder how long it was before he realized what a symbol he had become?
To: All
I hope it's true. Sadly, many/most Chinese probably don't know what he signifies. The world barely knows what goes on in China now. It is a tragedy and a disgrace.
87
posted on
06/06/2006 8:39:22 PM PDT
by
PghBaldy
(If my ancestors acted like the current crop of "immigrants", you would have to "press 2" for Polish.)
To: Spktyr
BAWHAHAHAHA....exactly...post of the day dude...u said it all...
88
posted on
06/07/2006 12:30:59 AM PDT
by
Irishguy
(How do ya LIKE THOSE APPLES!!!!)
To: MadIvan
re :I am sbsolutely delighted that he is alive. What he did took real courage, and he is an icon of liberty.
Here Here
To: TigerLikesRooster
90
posted on
06/08/2006 12:47:42 PM PDT
by
rvoitier
("And if talk is cheap anywhere, perhaps it is cheapest, quite frankly, in the Congress." Vitter(R-La)
To: TigerLikesRooster
91
posted on
06/08/2006 1:05:06 PM PDT
by
lowbridge
(I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming, like his passengers.)
To: TigerLikesRooster
This is great news. I hope we hear more from him.
92
posted on
06/08/2006 8:38:35 PM PDT
by
GVnana
(Former Alias: GVgirl)
To: rvoitier
I don't mean to make light, but after having just read about superman in another post, when I read "tank man," I can't help thinking he must known this chick:
93
posted on
06/10/2006 12:17:30 PM PDT
by
dangus
To: TigerLikesRooster
Wow! Amazing, and good to hear. I thought I'd heard he had been crushed by the tanks, though I'm not sure why. That's one courageous guy. His action was then/is still a sign of courage and bravery, and he is not just an icon but a living icon of freedom and liberty.
To: MadIvan
Tank Man, a very good definition for “honor, courage and commitment”.
Tank Man will return; the story will change some, but he will return to show the greatness of China.
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