Beijing:
Chinese social media censors have blocked posts, keywords and hashtags related to the extremely rare public protest ahead of a landmark Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rally scheduled for Oct. 16 at which President Xi Jinping is expected to hold a historic third term.
Hong Kong media has remained largely muted during a rare protest in Beijing calling for the ousting of Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of the historic 20th Communist Party Congress. The meeting, a once-in-five-year event, kicks off on Sunday and is likely to lead to an unprecedented third term for Xi, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported.
The protest in Beijing included banners denouncing Chinese President Xi Jinping and the country’s strict COVID-19 policies.
On Thursday, reports reached the mainland that two banners had been draped over Sitong Bridge – an overpass in the capital’s Haiding district. One of the banners, according to online images, called on people to go on strike to “evict the dictator, traitor Xi Jinping.”
Another banner, meanwhile, listed a range of grievances, including some against the country’s strict Covid-19 restrictions. “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 votes, not a leader. We want to be citizens, not slaves.”
International outlets such as Bloomberg, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported on the incident, while it appeared as a top article on the BBC News website. It was also covered by Taiwanese media and independent platforms such as Initium, though the protest was ignored by mainstream Hong Kong outlets, HKFP reported.
The banners were quickly removed the same day, but photos were already widely shared by netizens.
However, Chinese authorities were quick to remove social media posts related to the incident, including posts with keywords like #Haidian, #Sitong bridge and even #Beijing. Police were also present in the vicinity of the viaduct afterwards.
US-based Chinese writer Fang Shimin said on Twitter that the person allegedly hanging the banners was a man named Peng Lifa, who calls himself Peng Zaizhou online.
Fang claimed that before the protest, Peng left comments on his previous posts and shared similar content about protesting on the ResearchGate website. The content has now been removed, Fang said, HKFP reported.
After the censorship, people used a different hashtag – #ISawIt – to communicate on the Chinese Twitter-like Weibo platform. But those were also removed, with some reporting that their account was permanently blocked.
When searching for the #ISawIt hashtag on Weibo, the platform showed a message that read “[A]according to relevant laws and regulations, the topic page cannot be displayed,” reports HKFP.
Others, meanwhile, took to Twitter and said the person putting up the banners was “brave”.
Hours after Thursday’s protest images went viral, state media commentator Hu Xijin said on Twitter that citizens supported the country’s leadership: “China’s political stability is solid, as the country is developing very well overall, and the vast majority of people support the leadership of the CPC, hoping for stability and resistance to upheaval.” He did not refer to the demonstration.
Beijing on Friday was on high alert against any disruption to a historic Chinese Communist Party meeting where Xi is expected to secure a historic third term as president.
Armies of volunteers have been deployed in every neighborhood in Beijing to report anything out of the ordinary, and packages to commuters on the subway are subject to additional security checks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)