Shortly before the Chinese Communist Party Congress: protest against "dictator and traitor" Xi Jinping in Beijing
Created: 10/13/2022 11:36 am
By: Sven Hauberg
This image shared on Twitter shows protest banners on a bridge in Beijing.
© JingzhouTao/Twitter
"Don't be slaves": Pictures on Twitter show a rare protest against the policies of China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping.
Munich/Beijing – Unknown persons unfurled two banners on a highway bridge in Beijing on Thursday, demonstrating against China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping.
This is shown by pictures that were distributed on Twitter.
The footage, which has not yet been independently verified, was taken
in Haidian District, northwest of central Beijing , according to
CNN .
The timing of the protest is tricky: the 20th party congress of the country's Communist Party begins next weekend in China's capital.
“No PCR tests, but about eating.
Not a lockdown, but freedom!” reads the first of the two banners – apparently a criticism of the Chinese government’s “zero Covid” policy.
The banner also reads: "No lies, but dignity.
No cultural revolution, but reforms.
No great leader, but elections.
Don't be slaves, be citizens.” The second banner reads, “Strike and remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping!” The photos also include smoke billowing from the bridge and crowds of onlookers viewing the photos make.
According to a
CNN
reporter, the banners were no longer visible as of Thursday afternoon local time.
However, security personnel patrol the bridge.
Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of the state-controlled
Global Times
and one of the Chinese government's most outspoken propagandists, took to Twitter to downplay the importance of the protest.
"China is currently stable, especially its capital Beijing," Hu said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been well controlled here.
In Beijing, there is no public dissatisfaction over disease control like in some other remote places in China.”
Protests in China happen again and again
In fact, Beijing has not yet been placed under a city-wide lockdown - unlike other megacities such as Shanghai, where citizens were not allowed to leave their homes for weeks in the spring.
Along with North Korea, China is the only country in the world that is still trying to completely stop the spread of the corona virus with rigorous curfews.
China's government justifies this so-called "zero Covid" policy, among other things, with the relatively small number of intensive care beds in the country's hospitals and fears hundreds of thousands of deaths if restrictions are relaxed.
Most recently, several comments made in the party organ
Volkszeitung
It is clear that Beijing will not relax its corona policy even after the Communist Party congress that begins this weekend.
Protests are common in China, but are mostly directed against corrupt local officials or other injustices at the local level.
Protests against the regime and the system, on the other hand, are extremely rare.
Before the party congress, the police presence in Beijing has been massively increased in recent weeks.
It is expected that head of state and party leader Xi Jinping will be elected to a third term, although according to previous practice he should actually make room for a successor.
(sh)