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China: Rights group urges Beijing to free ‘bridge man’ protester Peng Lifa, who sparked ‘White Paper’ protests and 'forcibly disappeared' in 2022 (www.hrw.org)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by tardigrada to c/news

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China: Rights group urges Beijng to free ‘bridge man’ protester Peng Lifa, who sparked ‘White Paper’ protests and 'forcibly disappeared' in 2022

"The Chinese government may have taken away the ‘Bridge Man,’ but his arrest ignited widespread support for a free and democratic China,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “Two years since Peng Lifa was taken into police custody and forcibly disappeared, his message continues to resonate.”

On October 13, 2022, a man in a construction outfit unfurled two banners on Sitong Bridge in Haidian district in Beijing. One read: “We want food not Covid testing; we want freedom not lockdowns; we want dignity not lies. We want reform not the Cultural Revolution; we want to vote not a leader; we are citizens not slaves.”

And another read: “Go on strike, depose the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping.” The police immediately took him away and he has not been seen since.

[...]

Peng’s protest was rare in a country where police closely monitor all public spaces and dissidents. Control was especially tight in the capital ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress at the time of the protest. While authorities quickly censored all news about it, Peng’s messages nonetheless spread.

[...]

On July 30, 2024, a 22-year-old activist who participated in the White Paper movement, Fang Yirong (方艺融), put a Peng-inspired banner on a bridge in Loudi City, Hunan province, and posted a video online saying that he “hope[s] that the Chinese will get rid of autocracy and live a better life as soon as possible.” Police arrested Fang in early August and his current condition is also unknown.

[Edit typo.]

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[–] tardigrada 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

An 'indie newspaper' in China. Yah, that makes sense. (/s, just to be safe)

[–] basmati@lemmus.org 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

China has more small businesses per capita than the US, and more media companies than the US.

[–] tardigrada 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sure, and the central government has no influence on the media. No censorship, right?

[–] basmati@lemmus.org 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Of course the government can influence media, that's one of its primary jobs, just like in the US and UK. You can't call for an insurrection in any media in any country.

[–] tardigrada 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Peng Lifa didn't call for insurrection, he held a white paper.

[–] basmati@lemmus.org 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Read the article you posted, or more information about the arrest. He did not just hold up a white paper, according to your own article.

[–] tardigrada 1 points 1 month ago

You're right. One banner read:

“We want food not Covid testing; we want freedom not lockdowns; we want dignity not lies. We want reform not the Cultural Revolution; we want to vote not a leader; we are citizens not slaves.”

And another read:

“Go on strike, depose the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping.” The police immediately took him away and he has not been seen since.

You could write such banners in the U.S. and any Western democracy, and nothing would happen. In China, you disapear.