A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Changan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square, in an iconic June 5, 1989, file photo that came to be known around the world as "Tank Man." Jeff Widener/AP

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific airline has apologized for offering passengers an episode of the American show "Family Guy" to watch that includes a scene and a joke referencing the notorious 1989 crackdown on protesters in the Chinese capital's Tiananmen Square.

The episode, from the first season of the American animated series, shows father figure Peter Griffin standing next to the "Tank Man" in a recreation of an infamous photograph depicting a lone resistor to China's military forces as they moved in to disperse a days-long pro-democracy protest. As the tanks approach, the cartoon dad says: "Ah screw this, I just came over to buy some fireworks," before fleeing.

A spokesperson for Hong Kong's flagship airline told the South China Morning Post on Tuesday that it had apologized to customers after someone complained on social media about the episode being offered in-flight.

"We emphasise that the program's content does not represent Cathay Pacific's standpoint and have immediately arranged to have the program removed as soon as possible," the airline was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

On June 4, 1989, Chinese soldiers ordered in by Communist Party hardliners opened fire on thousands of protesters who had occupied Beijing's central Tiananmen Square.

The enduring "Tank Man" image has come to symbolize the bloody crackdown, which Chinese authorities have gone to great lengths to erase from history since it happened. CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer visited the square 30 years after the crackdown, in 2019, and found nothing there to commemorate the events, and when she showed photos of the crackdown, including the "Tank Man" picture, to young Chinese passers-by, none of them recognized the images.

After unprecedented pro-democracy protests swept across Hong Kong in 2019, authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese region cracked down on dissent, rounding up hundreds of opposition and civil society figures and quickly adopting new national security legislation cementing Beijing's control.

In November, a Hong Kong court charged 47 people, including some prominent pro-democracy activists, over their involvement in an unofficial primary to pick opposition candidates.

Cathay Pacific said it consistently briefs the third party company responsible for its in-flight entertainment to make sure the content offered meets airline standards, according to the South China Morning Post.

Source