As China Bullies the World, ‘Freedom Riots’ Grow Against China’s Communist Dictatorship at Home

ANALYSIS – Just as I was preparing to write about the growing riots against the tyrannical Islamist regime in Iran, the largest freedom riots since Tiananmen Square in 1989 exploded this weekend against the tyrannical communist regime in China.

Both these rebellions a world apart are positive signs for freedom. They also show how brittle and fragile totalitarian and authoritarian dictatorships truly are.

And the freedom riots in Iran could also be inspiring and fueling those in China.

But the impact of those in China could have far more significance globally, as they are occurring while the communist Chinese regime increasingly bullies its neighbors and much of the world.

It also shows that the Chinese people, especially the young, are getting more brazen in their defiance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) repression.

Increasingly referred to as the ‘White Paper Revolution' due to the sheets of blank paper carried by many of the protesters to symbolize censorship and repression, this rebellion could portend serious problems for CCP Chairman Xi Jinping.

As Blaze Media reported:

A video reportedly went viral depicting a woman at the Communication University of Nanjing holding up a blank piece of paper, which another individual then quickly took away.

A translation of one iteration of the post on Twitter stated, “Even if you hold up a blank sheet of paper, it makes them fear. It is not the power of the blank sheet of paper, but the power of awakening. Because, it is precisely because there is nothing written, so everything is written…”

This is especially true coming immediately on the heels of the 20^th CCP Congress that anointed Xi as ‘leader-for-life' last month.

According to Blaze Media:

Mass protests erupted in Shanghai, Beijing, and several other cities across China, condemning the communist regime's so-called “zero-COVID” policies. Chinese police have reportedly rounded up some protesters, pepper-sprayed thousands, and have altogether attempted to clamp down on the demonstrations in the authoritarian surveillance state.

The Daily Mail reported that over the weekend in Shanghai, protesters demanded that the regime “lift lockdown in Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!”

Some protesters called for Chinese dictator Xi Jinping — who extended his rule last month — to step down as well as for the CCP to relinquish power, saying, “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!”

Newsweek reported that the protests appear to have been sparked by a fire in an Ürümqi tower block on November 24 which officially killed 10 people but unofficially may have killed 10 times that number.

Many are blaming the horrific tragedy on the draconian COVID lockdown measures which kept firefighters from reaching the inferno and prevented residents from escaping the apartment building.

Unrest has since spread, and protests have been reported in several cities, including Shanghai, Wuhan and the capital Beijing.

And these protests are huge. And as Tom Mackenzie notes on Twitter:

Protests in China are not rare. What *is* rare, are multiple protests over the same issue, at the same time, across the country. The protest below, apparently in central Beijing's liangmaqiao, is astounding…

Jennifer Zang adds to the reporting by showing the anger and vitriol being personally hurled at Xi Jinping by the protesters:

“Traitor #XiJinping! #XiJinping, step down! Dictatorial Government, step down! F*ck…”

Crowds shouting while they gathered at #Urumqi Road in #Shanghai city today to protest against the #CCP's #ZeroCovid #lockdown.

Nikkei Asia adds:

Students also chanted slogans. Most focused on the government's continued insistence on strict measures against COVID-19. “No lockdown but freedom, no PCR testing but food,” some shouted. But other chants reflected bigger aspirations: “Rest in peace, long live the people” and “Democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression.”

Residents in major cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu also took to the streets in significant numbers to vent their anger. Videos circulating on social media showed people in Shanghai shouting, “Step down, Xi Jinping; step down CCP,” while residents in Chengdu chanted, “No emperor, no rule for life,” a reference to Xi's apparent goal of staying in power indefinitely.

So, how bad are these protests, especially compared to the Tiananmen riots in 1989 which resulted in thousands being brutally murdered by the regime?

Wu Qiang, a Beijing-based scholar and former Tsinghua University lecturer says, according to Nikkei Asia: “These protests are the biggest act of resistance in China since the Tiananmen demonstrations in 1989,” He added that while the 1989 protests were mainly a pursuit of abstract values, this time the demands are more concrete.

And while smaller, for now, Wu also suggested this weekend's demonstrations were far more diverse.

“The Tiananmen protests were primarily led by Beijing students, whereas the current protests are decentralized and involve people from various social classes, including migrant workers, students, middle-class people, and even residents of Xinjiang, whose human rights have been ignored by the mainland for the past five years,” Wu said.

So, while we shouldn't get too hopeful about where these protests will lead, it may be highlighting the growing paradox where we see signs of deepening internal woes for Xi and the CCP, even as China's military power grows exponentially and it increasingly struts around aggressively on the world stage. ALD

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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