Photo, above: The Tank Man, or the Unknown Protester, is the nickname of an anonymous man who stood in front of a column of tanks on June 5, 1989, the morning after the Chinese military had suppressed the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 by force. The man achieved widespread international recognition due to the videotape and photographs taken of the incident. Some have identified the man as Wang Weilin (王維林,but the name has not been confirmed and little is known about him or of his fate after the confrontation that day.

The incident took place near Tiananmen on Chang'an Avenue, which runs east-west along the north end of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests. The man stood in the middle of the wide avenue, directly in the path of a column of approaching Type 59 tanks. He wore a white shirt and black pants, and held two shopping bags, one in each hand. As the tanks came to a stop, the man gestured towards the tanks with his 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. After repeatedly attempting to go around rather than crush the man, the lead tank stopped its engines, and the armored vehicles behind it seemed to follow 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 tank commander briefly emerged from his hatch, and the tanks restarted their engines, ready to continue on. At that point, the man, who was still standing within a meter or two from the side of the lead tank, leapt in front of the vehicle once again and quickly reestablished the man–tank standoff.

Video footage shows that two figures in blue attire then pulled the man away and disappeared with him into a nearby crowd, and the tanks continued on their way.*

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-hosts:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.

Hour One

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Rose Tang, journalist and Tian An Men demonstrator, & Phelim Kine, deputy director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch,  in re:  Twenty-fifth Tian An Men anniversary. (1 of 2)  1.2 million Chinese people in Tien An Men Square; Rose Tang was there on June 3 and 4. Starting in the afternoon of 3 June, a large number of military trucks and APCs began to roll in to the square.  We students blocked the trucks. That night, people strolling in the square, some selling snacks, with children. Early in the morning began a State massacre by the Peoples Liberation Army, We were so naïve, we saw the bullets flying over our heads, we sat down . . . We joked that they were rubber bullets till we saw the monuments breaking; then we realized they were real. Deng Xioping decided to teach the people that the Communist Party would do anything to maintain power.  Subsequent leaders have been embarrassed and have tried to exorcize this history.

In Hong Kong, you see tens of thousand  of people go to a central park to commemorate this horrifying event; in HK, defiance, with increasing frustration against the current Beijing administration which is frozen and unyielding .  More and more Chinese are willing to speak out and defy the status quo.   RT: Increasingly, college students are curious about hat happened at Tien An Men then, say that they're outraged no t to have heard of it before. A 17-year-old girl now living in Los Angeles had never heard of the massacre till a teacher in Shanghai told her; now she's creating a stage play on it.    JB: The more this is suppressed, the more interest.   

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 1, Block B: Rose Tang, journalist and Tian An Men demonstrator, & Phelim Kine, deputy director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch, in re:  GC: Rose, you live in the US , have a daughter; what do you want her to know? RT: She's now 8, she;s educated me about China: "Why are people in China so rude? Why are people shouting all the time? Why is it so dirty? Why can’t I drink milk in China? Why are we at this commemoration?" (Because people were killed). "Who killed them? "(The baddies in Beijing.) It's my daughter who’s educating me.  . . .  There were 180,000 people in Victoria Park in Hong Kong, a much larger assembly than before. Is this related to the elections of 2018, when Beijing may not allow the level of freedom it’s promised. JB: Did people think that brutality was possible in 1989?  RT: People were very idealistic, the 1980s were the best time in China since 1949. Movies , music, underground rock, philosophy of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer  it was thrilling. Tien An Men as China's Woodstock – with a lot of blood.   PK:  Beijing has tried to introduce into HK schools "patriotic education" which is bitterly opposed by Hong Kongnese.  JB: Seems to e that all they can use is nationalism; otherwise, al they have is the gun.  (2 of 2)

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Pablo de Leon, professor of aerospace engineering, SpaceX consultant, and NewSpace professor at the University of North Dakota Space Studies Department, in re: human spaceflight capsules including Soyuz, Vostok, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Dragon V2, and Orion. 

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 1, Block D: Stephen Yates, chief executive officer of D.C. International Advisory, in Idaho, in re: Vietnam navy receives third TT400TP patrol vessel; The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Navy took delivery of its third and final TT400TP-class patrol vessel on 28 May. (Jane's)The boat (pennant number HQ 274) was ordered from Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company in Hai Phong.

According to Vietnamese state media, each TT400TP is armed with two 14.5 mm air-defence guns, one AK-176 76 mm automatic cannon, and one radar-guided, six-barrelled 30 mm AK-630 close-in weapon system (CIWS) turret, which can fire 3,000 rds/min up to a maximum effective range of 2 km.  The 420-tonne boats can carry 35 crew and have a top speed of 32 kt and a range of 2500 n miles.

Chinese encroachment:  armed and movable. Out at sea, can collide. Hanoi is integrating itself into the region because of Beijing's aggression. Vietnam may not trust the US, but sees that its capabilities are all Vietnam can rely on to protect itself from PLA Navy.  About commemoration of Tien An Men 1989: a rising generation becoming increasingly aware of the simpler truths of formerly.  Met with a loud govtl argument, "NO, all everyone wants is stability; silence!"  Now the youth see that these aren’t American values – the truth, and freedom, flexibility and opportunity, are what Chinese youth want.  Seem to be two groups in China; a huge gulf between the CCP and the other side.  May be reaching critical mass.

Bergdahl – from Idaho. The mayor of his hometown has cancelled the proposed parade.  One doesn’t think of Taliban-sympathizing, defecting soldiers In the middle of the state, we have Sun Valley, where illuminati from outside congregate. 

Hour Two

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Walter Lohman, director, Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, in re: the Shangri-La Dialogue, just returned from Japan.  Walter Lohman and his boss, Jim DeMint, met with Shinzo Abe; also went to Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan – all capitals being pushed by Beijing..  China with a fleet and an army, and aggression.  Deputy Chief of Staff of Chinese army, and Abe, and Mr Hagel: speeches about their concern about China. The Chinese general yells, "Provocative actions against China; Hagel's speech full of hegemony.  Another Chinese general mocked the US for having allies. Note that China has no ally in the region (except DPRK), and few in the entire world.  Seem to be trying to construct a bizarre world where the forces that held peace in the region for he past 70 years are dismissed and disparaged. Abe now speaks of Japanese people taking control of their destiny – in face of China's aggression ("freaked out").  Japan has carefully cultivated diplomatic lines in every regional country.  What I heard the most of is worry about American leadership: US is pulling back just as they need the US the most.  Does that make them more likely to shoot first? Yes.  . . .  Japan won’t just surrender to China; are ramping up defense purchases and training.  Potential for war.  India's new PM, Modi, is good friends with Abe.  A knitting-together of India and Japan would be significant to the region.  To us, China is geopolitics; to them, it’s an immediate threat.  It’s a fact that China is [to some extent] being surrounded; yet some of those countries can become weak links You never know what moves China can make.   The Chinese political system is in distress and cannot back off; enormous ramifications – looks like a one-way street to war. Hard to see where the off-ramps are.  

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Charles Ortel, managing director at Newport Value Partners, and host of On the Money, in Washington, online. in re: remember the warehouses in China filled with copper – how can they misplace that much copper?  -- Happening in Philippines; also in the US, with salad  oil [??]; after global intervention . . . Lenders who though they were making loans secured by ingots of aluminum copper find that they don't  exist – may never have.  China's old claim – mfr cheaper, better, faster – no longer obtains.  When you dissect production and delivery costs, freight is a big percentage; China is now at a disadvantage in mfrg for the US.  See HSBC studies: Chinese mfrg sector has contracted fro five straight months.  They didn't prepare – needed to move up the chain to higher end; can't do this while innovation and liberty are stifled.  Time, complexity, travel costs – a lot simpler to cut the days out of the equation and make stuff in Mexico. However, real, solid, intrinsic demand is not present in the US, Europe, Japan.  There just isn't the fundamental demand. Demographic changes.  The tools that policymakers are trying to use everywhere aren’t working: you can’t force a 70-year-old to buy three cars.

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 2, Block C:  Steve Herman, VOA Asia, Southeast Asia Bureau Chief in Bangkok, in re: Coup in Thailand, Instagram photo, looks like 1942 – the Thai Coup Army Band – the Royal Thai Army Band -out of doors entertaining people, handing out refreshments.  Bandstand is in pink.  "Return happiness to the Thai people" – don’t worry, be happy, everything is going to be OK.  It’s one thing to run a coup, another to run a country, They issue daily decrees; have put some of their thousands  of generals in different ministries, dictate how the economy and govt shd be run, Army chief now has all executive and legislative power; "It'll be a year before any possible elections."  They want to eradicate all influence of Thaksin Shinawatra. They want to rig the system to ensure that Thaksin-influenced candidates can never run,  Opponents are using a gesture:   for defiance; can’t gather more than five people for a political event, and if there are five together using this gesture, will face arrest.  Academics, journos, intellectuals, all asked to turn themselves in, are held for a week and released.  Will Thaksin our money to case trouble?  May be a few month before we see active resistance in the Northeast.  Red Shirts have been rounded up and arrested.  Were there to be a free and fair election, Thaksin forces would win over he Yellow Shirts.   Australia, and maybe te US, have cancelled joint military exercises.  This is the 19th attempted, and 13th successful, coup.  Claim that China, Vietnam and Burma are in accord with the coup.  Coup, suspension of constitution, favors to candidates, military and royalists; then another coup. How to get out of this vicious cycle? In Vietnam, a lot of foreign direct investment; oddly, Burma may be free-er, by normal metrics, than Thailand is.

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 2, Block D:  Joseph Sternberg, WSJ Asia editorial board, in re: Beijing has promised greater freedom for Hong Kong in 2018 and 2020. Huge turnout in HK in commemoration of Tien An Men in 1989 is in response to this. In the last decade in HK, people have become much more aware of Beijing's influence on HK, especially young people. Juan Delgado Moriari compares India and China. Barely two weeks into Modi's administration, the written laws in India are relatively pro-growth – foreign investment and infrastructure; its problem has been implementation, but Modi promises to prod the bureaucracy to move with more alacrity, In China the laws are less so.  To mfr, hard to beat China's scale – but India could, if Modi and other leaders can get their act together. China's state-owned enterprises are ignoring this.  Currency convertability: India's market has always been leaps and bounds ahead of China's.  be remarkable to see a reversal of perceptions "incompetent India" vs "capable China."

Hour Three

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 3, Block A:  Monica Crowley, Fox, in re: Sen. Cochran, Tea Party rival neck-and-neck  Six-term Sen. Thad Cochran was fighting the political race of his life early Wednesday, locked in a nail-biter GOP primary in . . .   [more]

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 3, Block B:  James Taranto, Wall Street Journal, in re: 'Suck It Up and Salute'  Bergdahl, Kerry and the left's view of the military. 
Kerry accused the US military of an astounding litany of evil deeds in Vietnam and has never rescinded any of it. Swiftboaters for Truth took Kerry to task.  Bergdahl's story was in a Rolling Stone story; the White House failed even to check that. WH pushed for Bergdahl's release over much objectin; Pres Obama was able to get this done despite roadblocks, but politically is madly toe-deaf –just because this guy was in the military does not mean he's a hero. Susan Rice again goes public with significant inaccuracies "Bergdahl served with honor and distinction" – which he did not. Left seems to think that soldiers are fungible. 

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 3, Block C:   Tim Cocks, Reuters, in re: Special Report: The rifts behind Nigeria's mass kidnap. When local people warned that hundreds of Islamist militants were heading towards his remote town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, Danuma Mphur hurried to summon help.  As chairman of the Parent Teachers Association at the town’s school, Mphur feared for the safety of children who were staying there to take exams. The 15 Nigerian soldiers in Chibok were no match for the forces of Boko Haram, a militant group waging a campaign to create an Islamic state in the region. Reinforcements were needed, fast. Mphur says he called the police and the local government chairman.

In turn the local government chairman also called the police and contacted the military commander in Chibok between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on that evening, according to Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno state, which includes Chibok. “Can we go further than that?” said Shettima, suggesting there was little more local people could have done than ask for help.

Backup never arrived. The military said in a statement that it received no warning about the attack. It added that when reinforcements were sent, they were ambushed on the “120 km rugged and tortuous road” from Maiduguri, the state capital, and delayed. Chibok’s local government chairman could not be contacted for comment.

Either way, about three hours after Mphur rang for help, Boko Haram militants swept into Chibok and abducted 276 girls from the school. While 57 escaped, according to the state government, most are still missing, and Boko Haram has threatened to sell them “in the market.”

Though Nigeria’s military said on Monday that it now knows where the girls are, it has ruled out using force to . . .

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 3, Block D:  Jillian Kay Melchior, National Review Online, in re: VA scandal: the Veterans Administration spends an inordinate amount of money on staff (btw, public-service union staff) and a conspicuously inadequate amount on actual medical services to veterans. 

Hour Four

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 4, Block A: The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk, 1943 by Lloyd Clark (1 of 4)

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 4, Block B: The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk, 1943 by Lloyd Clark (2 of 4)

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 4, Block C: The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk, 1943 by Lloyd Clark (3 of 4)

Wednesday  4 June  2014 / Hour 4, Block D: The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk, 1943 by Lloyd Clark (4 of 4)

..  ..  ..

* "La protesta di piazza Tienanmen (nota in Cina come incidente di piazza Tienanmen, in lingua cinese: 天安门事故, pinyin: Tiānānmén shìgù) fu una serie di dimostrazioni guidate da studenti, intellettuali ed operai nella Repubblica Popolare Cinese tra il 15 aprile ed il 4 giugno 1989. Simbolo della rivolta è considerato il Rivoltoso Sconosciuto, uno studente che, da solo e completamente disarmato, si parò davanti ad una colonna di carri armati per fermarli: le fotografie che lo ritraggono sono popolari nel mondo intero e sono per molti un simbolo di lotta controla tirannia". Inizia così la pagina di Wikipedia dedicata alle manifestazioni di piazza Tienanmen.

 

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