Chinese-Australian artist Badiucao — who anonymously inspired a global movement to recreate the iconic "tank man" image in memory of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre — has taken off his mask for the first time in a new documentary aired on the ABC.

Key points: Badiucao says there's no more reason to hide his identity because Beijing knows who he is

Badiucao says there's no more reason to hide his identity because Beijing knows who he is The Chinese Government found his family and threatened him through them

The Chinese Government found his family and threatened him through them The artist was forced to cancel his debut Hong Kong exhibition when they were threatened

The image of the "tank man" — an unidentified man who stopped the advance of a convoy of tanks en route to Tiananmen Square 30 years ago — became one of the most symbolic images of peaceful resistance in the 20th century.

Badiucao, who was already a well-known political cartoonist and activist, gained worldwide recognition when he called on thousands of activists across the globe to replicate the iconic image in a social media campaign known as #Tankmen2018.

But months after his campaign, the artist was forced to cancel his debut solo exhibition in Hong Kong after Chinese authorities threatened his family in China.

The documentary China's Artful Dissident was made for the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. ( Supplied: Badiucao )

In an hour-long documentary broadcast on the ABC titled China's Artful Dissident, Australian filmmaker Danny Ben-Moshe offered viewers an exclusive peak into Badiucao's life under the mask and a look at the face behind the satirical political cartoons.

"They actually found my family in China and threatened me through them," Badiucao told the ABC explaining his main reason for unmasking.

"What they said to me is that I had to call off the show, otherwise there would be no mercy for me."

The artist urged Chinese netizens to protect their identities so they can participate in discussions about the massacre without fearing repercussion.

And while Badiucao took off his mask on Tuesday night, he still is refusing to give up his real name fearing unintended consequences for himself or his family.

Memory of massacre lives on through Badiucao's artwork

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 3 minutes 10 seconds 3 m 10 s Badiucao speaks to the ABC's The World program about #Tankman2018.

Badiucao was unexpectedly inspired to be a political cartoon artist about a decade ago when he and a group of university friends discovered a three-hour long documentary on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre embedded in a film that his friend had downloaded from a pirating website.

"We were all surprised because usually a movie is only about 90 minutes, but that one was like five hours," he said.

"Everyone had this very surprised look on their face [when they watched the documentary].

"None of us had any knowledge of [the massacre] when we were growing up, because that part of history was completely hidden from my generation."

Badiucao often satirises China's leader Xi Jinping and criticises the Chinese Communist Party. ( Supplied: Badiucao )

After learning about the chilling event, Badiucao started creating art to bring attention to the massacre and to promote democracy.

His artwork has taken the form of political cartoons, art installations, and graffiti-style cartoons satirising Chinese President Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh.

Most recently, Badiucao created a paste-up work promoting the ABC documentary in Melbourne's Hosier Lane for the 30th anniversary of the massacre in the hopes that it would raise awareness for Chinese visitors to Australia.

Those who lauded his work included the late Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate and activist who continuously pushed for political reform aimed at ending single-party rule.

Badiucao's work went viral on the Chinese internet after China's famous human rights activist Liu Xiaobo died in prison in 2017. ( Supplied: Badiucao )

When Liu died in prison in July 2017, thousands of Chinese social media users changed their profile pictures to Badiucao's cartoon of Liu and his wife to commemorate his passing.

The artwork — which illustrated the final farewell between Liu and his widow Liu Xia — was also painted in frequently-visited alleyways around the globe.

Badiucao's work Wall Lovers reflects China's Great Firewall and Donald Trump's Mexico–United States barrier. ( Supplied: Badiucao )

But commemorations of Liu's death were quickly censored by Chinese authorities in the following days.

Despite this, Badiucao continued creating works of art criticising the Communist Party and exposing the human rights abuses in the country under a pen name and a mask — that is, until the days before his Hong Kong exhibition was cancelled.

Filmmaker Ben-Moshe told the ABC while it was initially agreed his documentary would be filmed without revealing Badiucao's identity and would end with the success of his Hong Kong exhibition, there was a sudden change of plans when his family was threatened.

The Chinese artist made a last-minute decision to take off his mask for the last scenes in the documentary.

"[Badiucao told me] 'well, you can film my face now, there's nothing to hide'," Ben-Moshe explained.

"It wasn't planned, it wasn't scripted. It was just one of those ultimately real and raw moments."