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This photo was taken on June 5, 1989. Became world famous under the name of "The Man with the tank" or "The unknown protester", was taken by an Associated Press photographer. REUTERS / Stringer / Files

In China, German camera maker Leica is in trouble after airing a commercial that honors photojournalists and starring the famous "Tank Man" shot taken on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June 1989. In the country, the Tiananmen massacre is still taboo, the authorities did not like the publicity. Leica broke away from the campaign.

With our correspondent in Shanghai , Angélique Forget

The scene unfolds in the dark atmosphere of a hotel room. A Western photographer escapes Chinese soldiers and hidden behind a curtain, preparing to make a historical cliché. In the reflection of his objective: a single man, his running bags in his hand challenges a row of tanks. We are in Beijing in June 1989.

It is this scene replayed in a commercial for Leica that has angered the Chinese authorities just weeks before the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre . In the country, it is a taboo subject. Consequence: the authorities have removed the video from the Chinese web and the name of the German brand is censored social networks.

Leica, for whom the Chinese market is essential, has dissociated itself from advertising and ensures that it is not an official order. This is not the first time that a Western brand is backing up so as not to offend Beijing.

Last year, the manufacturer Mercedes had to apologize after publishing on a social network a quotation from the Dalai Lama, considered a separatist by the Chinese authorities.