1989

On 15 April 1989 students protesting in favour of democracy occupy Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The protest, which was staged after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, ends in a bloodbath on 4 June. A young man, nicknamed “the unknown rebel”, sits down in front of the tanks in an effort to stop them in their tracks even though he is alone and unarmed. Ai Weiwei joins in a hunger strike outside the United Nations in June as a mark of solidarity with the Tiananmen Square demonstrators.