On the 13th October 2022, a being stood on the Sitong Bridge(四通桥) in Beijing. He hung two banners on the bridge and set fire to the tires for attention-drawing purpose. “I want to eat. I want to be free. I want to vote. Go on strike at school and work, remove the treasonous dictator Xi Jinping!”, he chanted with a loudspeaker. Meanwhile, he was arrested by the security force and secretly detained.[1] He was the lone protestor, Peng Lifa(彭立发), whose protest has become a new icon for the Chinese democracy movement since 1989.

Banner on the Sitong Bridge, written with the slogan “We don't want nucleic acid testing, we want food to eat; We don't want lockdowns, we want freedom; We don't want lies, we want dignity; We don't want Cultural Revolution, we want reform; We don't want [dictatorial] leaders, we want elections; We don't want to be slaves, we want to be citizens” / Photo from Online Resource

Banner on the Sitong Bridge, written with the slogan “We don’t want nucleic acid testing, we want food to eat; We don’t want lockdowns, we want freedom; We don’t want lies, we want dignity; We don’t want Cultural Revolution, we want reform; We don’t want [dictatorial] leaders, we want elections; We don’t want to be slaves, we want to be citizens” / Photo from Online Resource

More than a month later on the 26th November 2022, the A4 Movement (also known as the white paper movement白纸运动), fused by the Ürümqi fire [2] on the 24th November, widely outbroke in different cities. In Nanjing, students from the Communication University of China held blank papers implying the censorship of expression, which was soon imitated by the protests afterwards. Although the demands and slogans varied according to different communities and protests, they all shared discontent with the strict Zero-COVID policy and Xi’s government. Some of the protestors were also chanting for freedom, such as citing Article 35 of the Constitution of the PRC which is supposed to protect the freedom of speech, assembly and association etc., chanting for “Xi jingping stepdown” and “We don’t want [dictatorial] leaders, we want elections”. [3][4]

Students at Southwest Jiaotong University lit candles to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire and held blank paper in protest on the 27th November 2022. Photo by “Date20221127” from Wikimedia Commons.

Students at Southwest Jiaotong University lit candles to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire and held blank paper in protest on the 27th November 2022. Photo by “Date20221127” from Wikimedia Commons.

On the 7th December 2022, The government announced the new policy (新十条) and withdrew some of its most controversial restrictions in the zero-COVID policy. [5] The movement seemed to come to an end, as there were no longer big protests then and the demand with greatest consensus——abandoning the zero-COVID policy has reached. Was it?

The A4 Movement was in fact manifold. It was the product of the interwoven social, economic and then political crisis caused by the zero-COVID policy. It was hard for us to judge whether the A4 movement was successful or not and ended or not by simple criteria. However, one shall not deny its crucial aspect that it enhanced the cohesion among people concerning human rights. And such concerns have continued and have then nourished the Ban Great Firewall (GFW) Movement(拆墙运动).

On the 8th March 2023, Qiao Xinxin (乔鑫鑫; birth name: Yang Zewei杨泽伟), who was a Lao-based journalist and activist, campaigned for The Ban GFW Movement online. It aims to pursue freedom of speech and press freedom by raising international awareness of the dangers of GFW, as it does not only violate the right to information of people in China but its technology, according to Qiao’s revelation, was also exported to countries such as Iran and Russia which most probably would serve as tools of suppress dissidents. He was preparing to sue the CCP for crimes against humanity and the crime in the international court.

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China’s Great Fire Wall is against 8 billion people, since 2000, it has blocked Google, Youtube & other 310,000 websites, forcing 1.7 billion people hate the West everyday. https://t.co/4bh8b1WIdz

— BanGFW official 拆墙运动公号（EN） (@Ban_GFW) April 27, 2023

He then was pressured to stop by the police, which motivated him to react harder by “inviting more netizens to raise placards calling for the Great Firewall to be torn down, contacting different governments and getting in touch with the media.”[6] He was kidnapped in Laos to China in May 2023, detained and reportedly charged with “subversion of state power” in July 2023. [7]

However, the Ban GFW Movement did not end there. Liu Dongling (刘栋玲) succeeded in Qiao’s campaigns and led the movement by calling for volunteering and providing technical support.[8] However, she is now facing the risk of deportation after Denmark rejects her asylum bid. [9]

Within the wall, there were also young activists recalled the Sitong Bridge protest and echoed the A4 Movement or GFW movement recently. According to the X account of “Mr. Li is not your teacher”, which usually serves as a platform for receiving contributions about the news that is not reported or even forbidden by the Chinese authority, a 22 years-old young man named Fang Yirong (方艺融), slung the banner that similar to the Sitong Bridge’s one from a footbridge in Hunan with a loudspeaker blared calls for the ouster of Xi Jinping. He released a video disclosing his identity and revealing he was persecuted by the National Security Department since last year summer through “Mr. Li is not your teacher” on the 2nd August 2024. [10][11] Currently, according to some sources, He was arrested and detained. [12][13]

Not after a month, Yan Zhongjian (闫中健), a 1999-born youngster from Changli in China’s Hebei province, left a video and messages claiming he is a blogger joining the Ban GFW Movement, expressing his persuasion for freedom of speech and information, accusing the Chinese authority had wanted him, mistreated him and calling for resisting to mass surveillance. The video and messages were recorded on 14th August 2024. It was requested that a Chinese activist report it with background information to RFA when the youngster remained losing contact after the agreed time on 16th August 2024. [14][15]

Through the case of Qiao, we can the tip of the iceberg of Chinese authority’s transnational suppression. Through the case of Lui, we are reminded of the necessity of revealing the authenticity of various ways of persecution by the Chinese authority to the international society and governments around the world. Through the case of Peng, Fang and Yan, we shall realise these lone protesters urgently require our attention and support and uphold solidarity with them in pursuing the freedom of expression. To speak more generally, these activists need us to continue the movements, no matter if it is the Ban GFW movement or other pro-human rights movement.

To reclaim their right to information and freedom of expression and preserve our freedom recognising and countering to the Chinese authorities’ violation of human rights through different ways, especially by imposing the GFW, the world needs to act. Please share the news and raise the voices for Peng Lifa, Qiao Xinxin, Liu Dongling, Fang Yirong and Yan Zhongjian! We are calling for the release of Peng Lifa and Qiao Xinxin, the acceptance of Liu’s asylum application and the concerns about Fang and Yan’s lost contact and their release if they are being detained.

 

Footnotes

[1] https://p.dw.com/p/4b0MO, access on 2024/09/18
[2] Ürümqi fire was a fire broke out in flats of the city of Ürümqi on the 24th November 2022. The authority was suspected preventing the residents from leaving the building or interfered with the efforts of firefighters by enforcing strict zero- COVID policy. See 10 killed in apartment fire in northwest China’s Xinjiang | AP News, access on 2024/09/18
[3] https://p.dw.com/p/4KKV7, access on 2024/09/18
[4] https://www.prcleader.org/post/the-a4-movement-mapping-its-background-and-impact, access on 2024/09/18
[5] China rolls back some of its most controversial COVID restrictions : NPR, access on 2024/09/18
[6] Chinese activist missing from Vientiane after launching anti-censorship campaign — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org) , access on 2024/09/18
[7] 拆墙运动发起人杨泽伟（乔鑫鑫）家人呼吁国际社会关注声援 (voachinese.com) , access on 2024/09/18
[8] “拆墙运动”一周年乔鑫鑫仍被羁押，后继有人继续“拆墙” (voachinese.com) , access on 2024/09/18
[9] Chinese activist risks deportation after Denmark rejects asylum bid (voanews.com), access on 2024/09/18
[10] Hunan banner protester was also in ‘white paper’ movement, video says — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org), access on 2024/09/18
[11] 湖南青年方藝融承認掛反習標語 曾參加白紙運動 | 兩岸 | 中央社 CNA, access on 2024/09/18
[12] Hundreds Forcibly Disappeared in China | Chinese Human Rights Defenders (nchrd.org) , access on 2024/09/18
[13] Hunan Youth Arrested for Hanging Anti-Communist Slogans, Overseas Chinese Express Support – Red Censor, access on 2024/09/18
[14] 【本台獨家】公開叫喊「習近平下台」　中國青年冒大風險拍片「衝塔」 — RFA 自由亞洲電台粵語部, access on 2024/09/18
[15] Hebei Youth Broadcasting Anti-Communist Messages Via Router, Missing for Days – Red Censor, access on 2024/09/18