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Amid large-scale protests in China against Beijing’s harsh zero-COVID policy, a video showing a woman standing and filming other protesters getting beaten up by the police has gone viral. The 25-second clip that shows the defiant woman also getting thrashed toward the end has earned her the moniker ‘new tank man’ on Chinese social media.
In the video, the woman is seen filming the Chinese police in riot gear advancing on the protesters. The woman stands her ground and continues filming as the police thrash another protester. One of the cops even collides with her and takes a step back.
ALSO READ | After UK Scribe’s ‘Detention’, Swiss Reporter Has Brush With Chinese Cops While Covering Covid Protests
However, a second later two cops in uniform appear in front of her. One of them knocks out the mobile from her hand while the other shoves her into a group of people who appeared to be health workers in anti-COVID personal protective equipment (PPE). Three of the health workers then whisk the struggling woman away.
Another health worker then appears in the frame and knocks out the cellphone from the hands of the person who filmed the entire incident.
China is witnessing massive protests against restrictions that force millions of people to stay in their homes due to fear of the spread of COVID. The protesters are also demanding Chinese President Xi Jinping’s resignation.
Owing to the large-scale agitations, authorities relaxed anti-COVID regulations in a few locations but upheld its strict “zero-COVID” strategy on Monday.
ALSO READ | ‘Forces With Ulterior Motives’: China On Protests Against Zero-COVID Policy, Restrictions Eased Amid Uproar
Tank Man Of China
The nickname ‘tank man’ is used for an unknown protester whose defiant stance was caught on camera during Chinese government’s violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests of 1989. The iconic photo shows the man standing in front of a column of Type 59 tanks exiting Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 5, 1989.
The man kept shifting his position to obstruct the tanks’ path as they tried to pass by. The man in a white shirt and black trousers carried two shopping bags in each hand. The video of the incident shows the man continuously moving around as the lead tank in the column tried to maneuver past him. After some time, he climbed up the lead tank and appeared to speak with the crew inside through the gunner’s hatch.
He then climbs down the vehicle and continues his resilient stance. Sometime later, two figures clad in blue whisk him away into the crowd. The British tabloid Sunday Express identified the man as 19-year-old Wang Weilin, but this could not be confirmed. His fate remains unknown to this day, with only speculations doing the rounds.
The Tiananmen Square protest was a student-led agitation demanding democracy, free speech, and free press in China.
ALSO READ | ‘Xi Jinping Step Down!’: Protesters Chant In China, BBC Says Its Journalist ‘Beaten, Arrested’ By Police
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