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
21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Times Square and the controversy at the Chinese University contributed. He said it was important for government and university authorities to work hard to maintain the trust of its people. Former legislator Albert Cheng said the main reason for the unexpectedly high turnout was more general public dissatisfaction with the government without a proper mandate, although the actions of the HK Police and Chinese University only added fuel to the fire. 21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests The 21st anniversary Tiananmen square incident march began as a small march to commemorate the 4 June Tiananmen Square protests