The image still haunts, because of the events that followed, and because so little has really changed.
Peking Duck comments on Nicholas Kristoff, an eyewitness, as he recalls and refects in the NYT on the June 4 massacre at Tiananmen Square:
The night was filled with gunfire — and with Chinese standing their ground to block the troops. I parked my bike at Tiananmen, and the People’s Liberation Army soon arrived from the other direction. The troops fired volley after volley at the crowd on the Avenue of Eternal Peace; at first I thought these were blanks, but then the night echoed with screams and people began to crumple.
The image is Via The Sydney Morning Herald and Still gazing down the Tiananmen tank barrel
Peking Duck also has commented on The story behind the Tiananmen Tank Man Photo
The People of Hong Kong haven’t forgotten the Martyrs of Tiananmen Square