‘We all saw it’: anti-Xi Jinping protest electrifies Chinese internet - The Guardian

Chinese authorities person strictly censored treatment of a uncommon protestation successful Beijing connected Thursday that saw ample banners unfurled connected a flyover calling for boycotts and the removal of Xi Jinping, conscionable days earlier China’s astir important lawsuit of its five-year governmental cycle.

Photos and videos of the protest connected the Sitong span emerged connected societal media connected Thursday afternoon, besides showing plumes of fume billowing from the span implicit a large thoroughfare successful the Haidian territory of the capital.

“We privation food, not PCR tests. We privation freedom, not lockdowns. We privation respect, not lies. We privation reform, not a Cultural Revolution. We privation a vote, not a leader. We privation to beryllium citizens, not slaves,” said 1 banner, portion a 2nd called for a boycott of schools, strikes and the removal of Xi.

The photos dispersed rapidly connected occidental societal media but were rapidly removed from platforms down China’s net “Great Firewall”. Posts containing the words “Beijing”, “bridge”, oregon “Haidian” were strictly controlled, and a opus that shared the sanction of the span was taken down from streaming services, according to the Associated Press.

On Twitter immoderate users said their accounts had been temporarily disabled connected different large Chinese platform, WeChat, aft they shared photos of the protest.

However, specified a uncommon protestation astatine a clip of utmost governmental sensitivity caught attention. On Friday greeting a hashtag “I saw it”, wherever radical referenced the incidental without referring to it, had been viewed much than 180,000 times earlier it excessively was deleted.

“I saw it, we each saw it,” said 1 post.

A reply asking what the hashtag referred to was answered by a idiosyncratic saying “go hunt connected Twitter, sister, if you hunt for a definite capital, you tin find everything”.

Other commenters referenced the Les Miserables opus Do you perceive the radical sing?, which was concisely censored successful 2019 aft it became a fashionable protestation opus successful Hong Kong.

Many comments alluded to a revolutionary saying made celebrated by Mao Zedong: “A tiny spark tin acceptable the prairie ablaze.”

“#Seem abruptly little anxious# erstwhile I saw idiosyncratic acted similar a moth putting retired a occurrence and sacrificing his beingness for righteousness,” 1 of them added to the Maoist metaphor.

“One makes matters worse by attempting a cover-up,” added another.

Some net users claimed to person identified the protester, including the Chinese dissident and erstwhile CCP insider Cai Xia, who posted screenshots connected her Twitter purporting to beryllium days-old deleted tweets from the protester.

Fang Zhouzi, a US-based Chinese subject writer, said the aforesaid slogans displayed connected the span had days earlier been posted to his ResearchGate relationship by the antheral believed to beryllium the protester. Fang said the posts had since been deleted, speculating constabulary had done it aft arresting him.

“It’s bully to cognize your identity, astatine slightest it won’t beryllium evaporated from the world,” helium said.

Such an overt and publicised protestation against Xi specifically would beryllium important astatine the champion of times, but this occurred conscionable days retired from the ruling Communist enactment congress. Thousands of governmental delegates person descended connected Beijing for a week of closed-door meetings and highly choreographed governmental talks that are expected to reappoint Xi for a precedent-breaking 3rd word and further cement his powerfulness arsenic China’s authoritarian leader.

The existent protestation appeared to beryllium swiftly quashed connected Thursday afternoon. Not agelong aft the photos appeared online, determination were nary banners hanging from the roadway. A circular achromatic scar was disposable connected the enarthrosis country wherever the occurrence would person been, and determination was a dense constabulary presence, according to reporters connected the scene.

Officers entered stores, and stopped pedestrians for questioning. Associated Press journalists were questioned 3 times and asked to nutrient identification. Police denied thing antithetic had happened successful the area.

Additional reporting by Chi Hui Lin and agencies