1989 Tiananmen Square protests front of tanks." In February 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in response to an uprising in Benghazi against his rule, held up China's 1989 military assault on Tiananmen Square as an example of how to deal with popular unrest. Chinese media censored Gaddafi's reference to Tiananmen Square. Since Tiananmen, the iconic "Tank Man" image has become a worldwide symbol for civil disobedience. What happened to the "Tank Man" following the demonstration is not known. Some say he was pulled away and went into hiding, others say he was executed by the authorities. "Time" dubbed him "The Unknown Rebel" and later
Funding of student organizations during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests May the students established a new organization called Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters to manage Tiananmen Square. Because of the intense conflicts among movement activists, General Headquarters had great difficulty getting money out of the BSAF. The rivalries between the different groups and the absence of financial management resulted in allegations of corruption. Student leaders were even suspected of corruption. Thousands of (US) dollars of contributions, mostly from Hong Kong, had been flowing into the student organizations’ coffers, but no accounting had been done. The BWAF accused the student leadership of financial misappropriation; they claimed that the students had taken in