China’s Internet censors yesterday removed virtually all references to reports of a rare protest in Beijing that involved banners denouncing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and the country’s COVID-19 policies.
Beijing is on high alert against any disruption to a landmark Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meeting that is scheduled to begin tomorrow, at which Xi is expected to secure a historic third term.
Incoming parcels and subway commuters have been subjected to additional security checks, and armies of volunteers have been deployed in every neighborhood to report anything out of the ordinary.
Photo: screenshot from Fang Zhouzi’s Twitter account
However, video footage and pictures that spread online on Thursday appeared to show a defiant protester draping two hand-painted banners with slogans criticizing the CCP’s policies on the side of a bridge in Beijing.
“We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns. We want respect, not lies. We want reform, not a Cultural Revolution. We want a vote, not a leader. We want to be citizens, not slaves,” one banner read.
The other banner called on people to go on strike and remove “the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping.”
Other images showed a person in a hard hat standing on the bridge behind the banners, as well as smoke rising from a fire on the bridge and police rushing to remove the banners.
There was no sign of the banners or their writer when Agence France-Presse journalists arrived at the scene of the reported protest. There appeared to be an elevated police presence near the site, but residents said they had not seen the banners being unfolded.
Public protests are extremely rare in the Chinese capital, and those who defy Beijing’s strict security apparatus face serious punishment.
By yesterday morning, Chinese social media censors had blocked posts and keywords related to the protest, including “Sitong Bridge,” the name of the overpass where the slogans appeared to have been displayed.
Search results for the keyword “Beijing” on Sina Weibo were restricted to just verified accounts, instead of the usual torrent of regular users’ posts about the capital.
On Twitter some users said their accounts had been temporarily disabled on another major Chinese platform, WeChat, after they shared photos of the protest.
However, such a rare protest at a time of extreme political sensitivity caught attention. Yesterday morning a hashtag “I saw it,” in which people referenced the incident without referring to it, had been viewed more than 180,000 times before it was deleted.
A reply asking what the hashtag referred to was answered by a user saying “go search on Twitter, sister, if you search for a certain capital, you can find everything.”
Other commenters referenced the Les Miserables song Do You Hear the People Sing?, which was briefly censored in 2019 after it became a popular protest song in Hong Kong.
Many comments alluded to a revolutionary saying made famous by Mao Zedong (毛澤東): “A tiny spark can set the prairie ablaze.”
Some Internet users claimed to have identified the protester, including the Chinese dissident and former CCP insider Cai Xia (蔡霞), who posted screenshots on her Twitter account purporting to be days-old deleted Twitter postings from the protester.
Fang Shimin (方是民), a US-based Chinese science writer better known by his pen name Fang Zhouzi (方舟子), said the same slogans displayed on the bridge had days earlier been posted to his ResearchGate account by the man believed to be the protester.
US Senator Todd Young on Thursday praised the protesters in a statement on Twitter.
“Inspiring courage by some Chinese citizens speaking truth to power in the heart of Beijing. They will undoubtedly be punished by the authorities but I pray their acts will encourage more Chinese citizens to fight for a better future than the one imposed on them by the CCP,” he wrote.
Additional reporting by Helen Davidson and staff writer
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old