Renowned camera maker Leica seemingly unveiled a new advertisement this week featuring the dramatisation of the story behind an iconic photograph. Doesn’t seem too controversial on the face of it, except that the photo in question was the famous “Tank Man” shot from 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests — an image and event that China is especially sensitive to this year as the 30th anniversary of the incident approaches.

What makes this especially intriguing is that Leica is a key partner for Huawei, with their lenses being responsible for some of the extraordinary photos you can take with some Huawei devices.

Given the sensitivity around events from 1989 and China’s tendency to slap boycotts or bans on certain brands, this may seem a particularly bold move from Leica, but the brand has already distanced itself from the ad, according to SCMP, claiming that it’s “not an officially sanctioned marketing film commissioned by the company.”

“Leica Camera AG must therefore distance itself from the content shown in the video and regrets any misunderstandings or false conclusions that may have been drawn,” said Emily Anderson by email.