ANALYSIS โ Just as I was preparing to write about the growing riots against the tyrannical Islamist regime in Iran, the largest freedom riots since Tiananmen Square in 1989 exploded this weekend against the tyrannical communist regime in China.
Both these rebellions a world apart are positive signs for freedom. They also show how brittle and fragile totalitarian and authoritarian dictatorships truly are.
And the freedom riots in Iran could also be inspiring and fueling those in China.
But the impact of those in China could have far more significance globally, as they are occurring while the communist Chinese regime increasingly bullies its neighbors and much of the world.
It also shows that the Chinese people, especially the young, are getting more brazen in their defiance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) repression.
Increasingly referred to as the โWhite Paper Revolution' due to the sheets of blank paper carried by many of the protesters to symbolize censorship and repression, this rebellion could portend serious problems for CCP Chairman Xi Jinping.
As Blaze Mediaย reported:
A videoย reportedlyย went viral depicting a woman at the Communication University of Nanjing holding up a blank piece of paper, which another individual then quickly took away.
A translation of one iteration of the post on Twitter stated, โEven if you hold up a blank sheet of paper, it makes them fear. It is not the power of the blank sheet of paper, but the power of awakening. Because, it is precisely because there is nothing written, so everything is writtenโฆโ
This is especially true coming immediately on the heels of the 20thย CCP Congress that anointed Xi as โleader-for-life' last month.
According to Blaze Media:
Mass protests erupted in Shanghai, Beijing, and several other cities across China, condemning the communist regime's so-called โzero-COVIDโ policies. Chinese police have reportedly rounded up some protesters, pepper-sprayed thousands, and have altogether attempted to clamp down on the demonstrations in theย authoritarian surveillance state.
The Daily Mailย reportedย that over the weekend in Shanghai, protesters demanded that the regime โlift lockdown in Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!โ
Some protesters called for Chinese dictator Xi Jinping โ whoย extended his rule last monthย โ to step down as well as for the CCP to relinquish power,ย saying, โXi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!โ
Newsweekย reportedย that the protests appear to have been sparked by a fire inย an รrรผmqi tower block on November 24 which officially killed 10 people but unofficially may have killed 10 times that number.
Many are blaming the horrific tragedy on the draconian COVID lockdown measures which kept firefighters from reaching the inferno and prevented residents from escaping the apartment building.
Unrest has since spread, and protests have been reported in several cities, including Shanghai, Wuhan and the capital Beijing.
And these protests are huge. And as Tom Mackenzie notes on Twitter:
Protests in China are not rare. What *is* rare, are multiple protests over the same issue, at the same time, across the country. The protest below, apparently in central Beijing's liangmaqiao, is astoundingโฆ
Jennifer Zang adds to the reporting by showing the anger and vitriol being personally hurled at Xi Jinping by the protesters:
โTraitor #XiJinping! #XiJinping, step down! Dictatorial Government, step down! F*ckโฆโ
Crowds shouting while they gathered at #Urumqi Road in #Shanghai city today to protest against the #CCP's #ZeroCovid #lockdown.
Nikkei Asia adds:
Students also chanted slogans. Most focused on the government's continued insistence on strict measures against COVID-19. โNo lockdown but freedom, no PCR testing but food,โ some shouted. But other chants reflected bigger aspirations: โRest in peace, long live the peopleโ and โDemocracy, rule of law, freedom of expression.โ
Residents in major cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu also took to the streets in significant numbers to vent their anger. Videos circulating on social media showed people in Shanghai shouting, โStep down, Xi Jinping; step down CCP,โ while residents in Chengdu chanted, โNo emperor, no rule for life,โ a reference to Xi's apparent goal of staying in power indefinitely.
So, how bad are these protests, especially compared to the Tiananmen riots in 1989 which resulted in thousands being brutally murdered by the regime?
Wu Qiang, a Beijing-based scholar and former Tsinghua University lecturer says, according to Nikkei Asia: โThese protests are the biggest act of resistance in China since the Tiananmen demonstrations in 1989,โ He added that while the 1989 protests were mainly a pursuit of abstract values, this time the demands are more concrete.
And while smaller, for now, Wu also suggested this weekend's demonstrations were far more diverse.
โThe Tiananmen protests were primarily led by Beijing students, whereas the current protests are decentralized and involve people from various social classes, including migrant workers, students, middle-class people, and even residents of Xinjiang, whose human rights have been ignored by the mainland for the past five years,โ Wu said.
So, while we shouldn't get too hopeful about where these protests will lead, it may be highlighting the growing paradox where we see signs of deepening internal woes for Xi and the CCP, even as China's military power grows exponentially and it increasingly struts around aggressively on the world stage.ย ALD
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions ofย American Liberty News.
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1 Comment
Hooray Rerun 1989 again only whole nation