By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Aug 6: Fang Yirong, a Chinese protester known for his recent demonstration on a bridge in Hunan Province, China, is missing. On July 30, Fang unfurled a banner demanding “freedom, democracy, and elections” and condemning Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” and an “authoritarian traitor.”
A pre-recorded video, widely circulated on August 2 on X (formerly Twitter), showed Fang introducing himself as a “young participant in the White Paper Movement” but does not directly reference the Hunan banner protest. In the video, Fang states, “Last summer, I posted comments supporting democracy on Telegram and was targeted by the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Department. Since then, the National Security Department has subjected me to brutal and inhumane mind control persecution. I am posting this video now to prove that I am no longer afraid of them. Tyranny is inevitably terrifying, but authority cannot crush the human spirit. Xi Jinping can continue to persecute us, but he cannot stop the ideas of democracy from taking root and sprouting in the hearts of the Chinese people again and again. The waters of the Yangtze River will not flow backward. I hope the Chinese people can soon be free from tyranny and lead better lives. After doing this, I might be officially declared mentally ill by the Chinese Communist Party. I might also die in prison, but I will not regret it.”
In another post on X, journalist and China expert Jennifer Zeng translated a letter by Fang Yirong, which was posted online. In the letter, Fang detailed the political persecution he faced from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, describing “daily surveillance, intimidation, and harassment” by agents. He wrote, “I participated in poster-posting activities at the end of the White Paper Revolution out of my dissatisfaction with the dictatorial tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party. I have also spoken out against the dictatorship and feudal rule of Xi Winnie (Xi Winnie-the-Pooh) on the internet many times. Eventually, I was exposed for plotting rebellion within the CCP’s black police entrapment group, the ‘White Paper Matrix.’ Since July last year, I have been suppressed and persecuted by the vicious government.”
The banner unfurled by Fang Yirong on the Hunan bridge carried slogans strikingly similar to those displayed during the October 2022 Sitong Bridge protest in Beijing’s Haidian district by Peng Lifa, who was immediately detained. The slogans read, “No COVID test, we want to eat. No restrictions, we want freedom. No lies, we want dignity. No Cultural Revolution, we want reform. No leaders, we want votes. By not being slaves, we can be citizens.” Another banner urged residents to strike from school and work to “remove the dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping.”
These acts of dissent are unusual in China, where free speech and criticism are heavily suppressed, and protests often provoke a strong response from authorities. Observers note that the emergence of such banners reflects growing discontent with the Chinese Communist Party’s stringent control over public expression, particularly following the implementation of the ‘Zero COVID’ policy. This policy has sparked sporadic demonstrations against Xi Jinping and the CPC’s governance.
2 Responses
This young man is incredibly courages but in communist China, they simply disappear at the slightest dissent exhibited by its netizens! So, many Tibetan monks, nuns, lay singers both male and female including many intellectuals have disappeared and this poor lad would either be languishing in a dungeon on solitary confinement or is already dead! The CCP is the most deadly dictatorship on earth. Through their racism, Tibetans are treated far harshly than the Chinese. In fact Tibetans have been treated like subhumans by demonising through out the rule of the communist regime. If the fall of Sri Lankan President Raja Paksa by popular revolt and the fall of Bangladeshi prime Minister Sheik Hasina are any indication, dictator’s shelf life is extremely unpredictable! Sheik Hasina brought economic development and raised the living standards of millions of Bangla Deshes but it is said she became autocratic and brought not only herself but the legacy of her late father Sheik Mujibur Rahman, who was the founder of Bangla Desh into disrepute! It was most disconcerting to see his gigantic statue being vandalised in Dacca! From these developments, we can gauge that all dictators finally fall on their sword and have to flee for their lives! We will definitely see the evil Chinese communist dictatorship fall one day! It will be bloody and we will see the scenes repeated in Sri Lanka and Bangla Desh where the people hunt down the dictators until they have no choice but flee for their lives! Communist China has all the ingredients of an impending revolution like Sri Lanka and Bangla Desh. The people in China are subjected to extreme maltreatment by the CCP for merely voicing their concerns on livelihood, human rights, freedom of the press, religious freedom etc. However, the regime doesn’t tolerate such sentiments and dissidents are rounded up, tortured or disappeared for good. The people are treated like slaves of the rulers. Communist China is hundred times worse than Sri Lanka under Raja Paksa or Bangla Desh under Hasina! The communist regime uses unimaginable violence against the people as we saw with Tiananmien square massacre and Hong Kong suppression of democracy. In occupied Tibet, Tibetans are treated like the enemy of the communist regime in our own country. There is wide spread youth unemployment in communist China and after the draconian COVID lock down for three long years, millions of Chinese have lost their livelihood! As a result middle class and college educated young Chinese are risking their lives and fleeing from communist China to the US through the most dangerous DARIAN GAP! They are fleeing 5000 kilometres away from their home through Central America to escape the oppression of the CCP and economic hardship in China today! Instead of improving the quality of life of the Chinese people, the CCP led by dictator Xi is ever more dictatorial and oppressive in their attempt to save themselves from a people’s revolt. The open defiance of this young man, is indicative of the dire situation in communist China and that a revolution may be brewing even if it is in its infancy. The CCP’s only tool to retain power is the PLA and its Gestapo police force. We have seen that both in Sri Lanka and Bangla Desh, there comes a time when even the army and police force feel weak- kneed to confront the mammoth gatherings that simply overwhelm them! They themselves feel powerless against the tidal wave of anger and defiance that makes them capitulate without much resistance. This is likely to happen in communist China in the not very long distant future. The CCP leaders may be contemplating where they would escape in the event of such a scenario. Owing to their crimes committed during these seven decades against the Chinese, Tibetans, Ughurs, Mongolians and Manchurians, they have very few options where to seek asylum! Most of them will face the same fate as that of Romanian dictator Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu!!! They were executed for the death of 60,000 Romanians under his watch. The CCP is responsible for the death of 80 million deaths under its watch!
These three young Chinese’s bravery and wisdom must be applauded for opposing ruthless dictator Xi Jinping, and calling Xi “dictator and an authoritarian traitor.” They have done so by sacrificing their lives for freedom and democracy in China. They are missing now, and I presume Xi Jinping’s thugs must have taken them to China’s gulags. I pray for their safety and well-being and their dream of free China will be realized in the very near future.
Remember the young Panchen Lama. He was abducted and disappeared when he was six years old. Nobody was allowed to visit or see him despite many, many requests by foreign dignitaries. We should never stop asking Xi: “Where is the Panchen Lama?”