Cirque du Soleil surprised a Beijing audience by showing an image of ` ` tank man '' A Cirque du Soleil performance left a Beijing audience audibly shocked when a banned image of the iconic Tiananmen `` tank man '' protester was displayed on giant screens in front of 15,000 people . The politically - charged image of the sole man defying tanks in Tiananmen is banned in China . The troupe says the image 's content was approved ahead of time by Chinese censors . It has removed the image from its remaining Chinese performances .
Cirque du Soleil surprised a Beijing audience by showing an image of ` ` tank man '' The politically - charged image of the sole man defying tanks in Tiananmen is banned in China . The troupe says the image 's content was approved ahead of time by Chinese censors . It has removed the image from its remaining Chinese performances .