This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
An unidentified protester slung a banner from a pedestrian footbridge in the central Chinese province of Hunan this week, calling for democratic government, while a loudspeaker blared calls for the ouster of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, according to social media footage of the incident.
The banner bore a series of slogans very similar to the Oct. 13, 2022 Sitong Bridge protest in Beijing by Peng Lifa, who was detained immediately afterwards and hailed as a hero by democracy activists.
The Hunan banner read: “Equality, not privilege. Freedom, not control. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders.”
“Only when we cease being slaves will we become citizens,” read the banner, which appeared on July 30, according to an anonymous citizen journalist.
Slogans also blared from a loudspeaker, calling for strikes by students and workers.
“We want democracy! We want to vote! Oust Xi Jinping!” the speaker said.
People in China frequently challenge those in power, despite pervasive surveillance, a “grid” system of law enforcement at the neighborhood level and a targeted “stability maintenance” system aimed at controlling critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party before they take action.
Yet those who take part in public shows of peaceful dissent like the November 2022 “white paper” movement risk detention, imprisonment, and the harassment of their loved ones, even if they are overseas.
Planting ‘seeds’
The banners were shown in two video clips of 26 seconds each posted to the X account “Mr Li is not your teacher.”
The loudspeaker slogans were clearly audible on both clips.
According to online accounts, the banners were hung from a pedestrian footbridge on Tianhua Road in Loudi, a city of 3.7 million people in the center of Hunan province just one kilometer (0.62 miles) from the county police department and three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the local Xinhua county seat.
Some online comments praised the courage of the unknown protesters, while others expressed concerns for their safety, pointing to surveillance cameras at the scene.
Influential blogger Toronto Square Face commented: “If you protest, the dictator is likely to step down. There will be more and more rebels like this as China’s economy declines.”
Japan-based social media commentator Wild Dog, who gave only their online handle for fear of reprisals, said Peng’s daring protest had planted “seeds” among the Chinese people.
“It’s a continuation of the Sitong Bridge protest by hero Peng Lifa,” Wild Dog said. “The slogans are very similar.”
“I think the seeds were planted back then, and now the flowers are blooming.”
Sitong Bridge
Paris-based artist and activist Jiang Bu said Peng’s protest was just the beginning, echoing calls for peaceful change from former Communist Party ideologue Cai Xia.
“Everyone saw that banner on Sitong Bridge, and came out of their political hibernation,” Jiang said. “Peng’s protest and the one in Xinhua will … make other people think that they could do the same thing.”
Jiang said one of the things that has changed in recent years in China is the growing collaboration between activists in China and those overseas.
“Such things will continue to happen in future,” Jiang said. “Everyone may think that the SkyNet system with its facial recognition [is a barrier] but there is still room for action.”
“Maybe very small acts of resistance will eventually become the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” he said.
Fellow activists told RFA in 2023 that Peng was still alive, although his whereabouts remain unclear. But his family are under close surveillance, according to Netherlands-based dissident Lin Shengliang, who has remained in contact with people close to Peng.
Peng, whose pen name Peng Zaizhou references an ancient essay describing the people as the water that holds up the boat of government, and might overturn it if they are unhappy with its rule, hung his banners from Sitong Bridge just days ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s national congress, at which Xi secured an unprecedented third term as party leader.
“Remove the traitor-dictator Xi Jinping!” read one of Peng’s banners, video and photos of which were quickly posted to social media, only to be deleted. A post linked from the account called for strikes and class boycotts to remove Xi.
“Food, not COVID tests. Freedom, not lockdowns. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders,” read the second, adding: “Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves.”
