Rare protest against China's Xi Jinping days before Communist Party congress
Also: ‘We all saw it’: anti-Xi Jinping protest electrifies Chinese internet (The Guardian)
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Source: CNN
Rare protest against China’s Xi Jinping days before Communist Party congress
By CNN's Beijing bureau
Updated 11:29 PM EDT, Thu October 13, 2022
A rare protest against Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his policies was swiftly ended in Beijing Thursday, just days before he is set to secure a third term in power at a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party.
Photos circulating on Twitter Thursday afternoon show two banners hung on an overpass of a major thoroughfare in the northwest of the Chinese capital, protesting against Xi’s unrelenting zero-Covid policy and authoritarian rule.
“Say no to Covid test, yes to food. No to lockdown, yes to freedom. No to lies, yes to dignity. No to cultural revolution, yes to reform. No to great leader, yes to vote. Don’t be a slave, be a citizen,” reads one banner.
“Go on strike, remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping,” reads the other.
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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/13/china/china-party-congress-protest-banners-xi-intl-hnk/index.html
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Source: The Guardian
‘We all saw it’: anti-Xi Jinping protest electrifies Chinese internet
Scramble to censor posts about Sitong bridge incident in Beijing where defiant banners were hung and a fire lit in lead-up to Communist party congress
Helen Davidson in Taipei
@heldavidson
Fri 14 Oct 2022 06.30 BST
Last modified on Fri 14 Oct 2022 09.33 BST
Chinese authorities have strictly censored discussion of a rare protest in Beijing on Thursday that saw large banners unfurled on a flyover calling for boycotts and the removal of Xi Jinping, just days before China’s most important event of its five-year political cycle.
Photos and videos of the protest on the Sitong bridge emerged on social media on Thursday afternoon, also showing plumes of smoke billowing from the bridge over a major thoroughfare in the Haidian district of the capital.
“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,” said one banner, while a second called for a boycott of schools, strikes and the removal of Xi.
The photos spread quickly on western social media but were quickly removed from platforms behind China’s internet “Great Firewall”. Posts containing the words “Beijing”, “bridge”, or “Haidian” were strictly controlled, and a song that shared the name of the bridge was taken down from streaming services, according to the Associated Press.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/14/we-all-saw-it-anti-xi-jinping-protest-electrifies-chinese-internet