It was noontime today in the center of Beijing when a man walked to the middle of the Avenue of Eternal Peace, which as it happened was already occupied. He walked to the middle and stood there. The man was alone; the tank was not. It wasn't just a single tank. He stopped.

There were 18 tanks and armored carriers in this convoy, and while he talked to the crew and ignored the gunfire, he stopped all of them. One man alone, of course, can't stop an army, except for a moment. That's exactly what happened here. For three minutes in the middle of the

day, an army was stopped by a man who stood still, a man who'd made up his mind. It seemed so. Why? We just don't know. But when bystanders rushed in to save this stubborn soul, it wasn't easily done. He was pushed away at last, faceless in

the crowd, safe we think. But in a city verging on calamity, what moves a man to just stand still? Is it courage or outrage or madness? We can't tell what was on his mind, and we can't forget what he did. Richard Ross, CBS News, Beijing.

1989: Man stops Chinese tank during Tiananmen Square protests

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CBS News

A lone man confronts a military convoy in Beijing.

A man stood in the middle of the Avenue of Eternal Peace, amidst a military convoy.

The convoy consisted of 18 tanks and armored carriers.

The man talked to the crew and ignored gunfire, halting the entire convoy.

Bystanders attempted to intervene but were initially unsuccessful.

The man's actions and motivations remain unclear.

The man was eventually pushed away from the tanks and into the crowd.

His motivations are unknown; the report suggests courage, outrage, or madness as possibilities.

The event is described as occurring in a city on the brink of disaster.

The report concludes with the reporter's name and location.