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On October 13, days earlier than the Chinese language Communist Get together Congress’s scheduled fifth-year assembly, Peng Lifa, (on-line, Peng Zaizhou) stood on an overpass in Beijing — dressed as a development employee — and unfurled two banners demanding an finish to zero-COVID insurance policies and the removing of Xi Jinping as CCP chief. With safety cameras in every single place, he was sure to be seen. There was additionally an obvious tire fireplace on the bridge, which created quite a lot of attention-riveting smoke.
A banner in opposition to Xi Jinping is raised at Sitong Bridge, Haidian District, Beijing.
Admire the braveness of this man, however when the enormous ship sank, the screams of the passengers have been solely the which means of tragedy.#TheGreatTranslationMovement pic.twitter.com/tMt4spulZR— The Nice Translation Motion (@TGTM_Official) October 13, 2022
The stakes are excessive:
Such an incident poses a humiliation for Xi, who is predicted to safe an unprecedented third five-year time period in workplace within the upcoming occasion congress. Held each 5 years, the assembly is ready to kick off on Oct. 16 in Beijing, throughout which the subsequent spherical of high management may also be unveiled.
Dissenters and petitioners beforehand advised The Epoch Occasions that since September, police have appeared on native streets, monitoring their properties day and night time.
With simply days left to the pivotal political assembly, it’s extremely uncommon for protests to pop up within the nation, particularly within the political middle of Beijing, the place a city-wide mass surveillance system has been put in since 2015. In accordance with Comparitech, a UK-based cyber safety web site, roughly 7.9 million surveillance cameras watch the town 24 hours every day.
Dorothy Li, “Uncommon Protest In opposition to Xi Seems in Beijing Days Earlier than CCP’s Congress” at Epoch Occasions (October 14, 2022)
Very thorough censorship of social media kicked in, to clean the occasion from folks’s minds:
He maximized the affect he may make within the jiffy he had, and succeeded in getting consideration and getting his messages out: photographs and video clips extensively circulated on Chinese language social media earlier than censorship kicking in. Sitong Overpass, Peng Zaizhou, Peng Lifa, Haidian, courageous man, Third Ring Highway North, bridge + fireplace, banner (四通桥、彭载舟、彭立发、 勇士、海淀、北三环、北四环、桥+火、横幅 + ) have since develop into delicate phrases topic to account deletion and suspension. Rumor has it that WeChat has blocked 600,000 accounts for posting footage of, or commenting on, the Beijing Sitong Overpass incident. A journalist reported that his account was suspended for 60 days for merely saying “I’ve seen it.”
China Change, “Identification of the Man Who Pulled Off Protest on Beijing Overpass Amid Unprecedented Safety Earlier than the CCP Congress” at China Change (October 13, 2022)
China Change experiences that Peng is an engineer with revealed papers:
Peng has a background in physics and revealed a paper, which he tweeted, about electromagnetic pressure in Science and Know-how Innovation Herald (科技创新导报), a state aerospace publication, as not too long ago as 2021. Curiously, on the web site researchgate.internet the place his paper is obtainable on-line, he has a tag that reads “Common Suffrage Committee of the Folks’s Republic of China”.
He’s additionally a companion at an organization known as Beijing Melon Community Know-how Co., Ltd. (北京甜瓜网络科技有限公司) that sells acrylic merchandise.
China Change, “Identification of the Man Who Pulled Off Protest on Beijing Overpass Amid Unprecedented Safety Earlier than the CCP Congress” at China Change (October 13, 2022)
China Change employees concern he will probably be tortured severely and will die in jail. He’s seen as one other Tank Man — nobody is aware of what occurred to the long-lasting man who confronted down the tanks, although theories abound.
For those who lived in China, you’ll discover it tough certainly to get details about what occurred besides through covert phrase of mouth:
Extra delicate phrases have added to the regime’s already expansive on-line censorship efforts.
Along with the phrases and phrases on the banners, expressions equivalent to Sitong Bridge, Beijing, Haidian (the district), banners, courageous man, and braveness have been censored from Chinese language social media platforms…
The phrase “I’ve seen it!” has additionally been banned on Chinese language social media, after folks began utilizing it to consult with the protest…
A tune with the title “Sitong Bridge” has additionally been faraway from Chinese language on-line music platforms, in response to The Affiliate Press on Thursday.
Sophia Lam, “Beijing Swiftly Recruits Extra Safety, Ups Censorship of ‘Bridge Man’ Protest Earlier than Get together Congress” at Epoch Occasions (October 15, 2022)
Equally, from China Digital Occasions,
QQ Music deleted all feedback underneath the tune “The Courageous One” by No Get together For Cao Dong. Apple Music eliminated the tune “Sitong Bridge” from its Chinese language streaming service and Baidu eliminated a web page on the tune from its digital encyclopedia. CDT’s Eric Liu, a former censor, identified that the depth of this spherical of censorship rivaled, if not surpassed, the bout that adopted Peng Shuai’s accusation that former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhang Gaoli sexually assaulted her.
Alexander Boyd, “Beijing Bridge Protest Scraped From Net As Censorship Tightens Earlier than Get together Congress ” at China Digital Occasions (October 13, 2022)
A 2014 pop tune concerning the bridges of Beijing has additionally been banned from all of China’s media as a result of in a single rendition it was dubbed, with photographs believed to be of Peng Lifa added:
The curious factor is that, in the event you knew all of the phrases and music that had all of the sudden been banned, you may simply guess the character of the occasion. That’s a perennial pitfall of censorship of any variety.
The native authorities are usually not stopping there. They’re hiring non permanent safety guards to observe all of the bridges in Beijing.
The incident is seen internationally as tarnishing Xi’s picture (Washington Submit, October 14) even when he will get the five-year extension he’s looking for.
Here’s a compilation of photographs from totally different angles from China Digital Occasions:
You may additionally want to learn: China’s Covid Theater: It’s probably not concerning the illness. Not precisely. Because the Twentieth Nationwide Congress looms, the Chinese language Communist Get together doesn’t need any COVID in Beijing. Regardless of strict censorship, the sufferings of Chinese language folks underneath the zero-Covid coverage have gotten extra extensively identified.
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