China Censors Anti-Xi Jinping Protest Ahead Of Communist Party Meet

Chinese social media censors have blocked posts, keywords, and hashtags related to the extremely rare public protest ahead of a landmark Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meeting that is scheduled to...

Social media censors in China have blocked posts, keywords and hashtags related to the extremely rare public protest ahead of the historic meeting of the Chinese Communist Party scheduled to begin on October 16, at which President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a historic event. third term.

Hong Kong media has remained largely silent due to a rare protest in Beijing calling for the ouster of Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of the historic 20th Communist Party Congress. The meeting, which takes place once every five years, is set to begin on Sunday and is likely to see President Xi secure an unprecedented third term,

Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported.

The protest in Beijing included banners condemning Chinese President Xi Jinping and the country's tough policies on the coronavirus.

On Thursday, reports emerged on the mainland that two banners had been placed across the Sitong Bridge - an overpass in the capital's Haiding district. one of the banners

According to online photos, people called for a strike to "overthrow the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping."

Meanwhile, another banner listed a range of grievances, including some against the country's strict Covid-19 restrictions. "We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not closure. We want respect, not lies. We want reform,

Not a cultural revolution. We want a vote, not a leader. We want to be citizens, not slaves."

International media such as Bloomberg, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported on the incident, while it appeared as a main story on the BBC News website. It has also been covered by Taiwanese media and independent platforms such as Initium,

Although major outlets in Hong Kong ignored the protest, HKFP reported.

The banners were quickly removed the same day but the photos were already widely shared by netizens.

However, Chinese authorities were quick to remove social media posts related to the incident, including posts containing keywords such as #Haidian, #Sitong bridge and

Even #Beijing. There was also a police presence near the bridge afterwards.

US-based Chinese writer Fang Shimin said on Twitter that the person allegedly hanging the banners was a man named Bing Lifa, who calls himself Peng Zaizhou on the Internet.

Fang claimed that Bing left comments on his previous posts before protesting,

She shared similar content about the protest on ResearchGate.

Fang said the content has now been deleted.

After the censorship, people used another hashtag - #ISawIt - to communicate on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. But these have also been removed, with some reporting their account being permanently banned.

When searching for the hashtag #ISawIt on Weibo, the platform showed a message saying “[A] In accordance with relevant laws and regulations, the topic page cannot be viewed,” HKFP reported.

Meanwhile, others have taken to Twitter, saying the person who commented the banners was "courageous".

Hours after photos of Thursday's protest spread,

Official media commentator Hu Xijin said on Twitter that citizens support the country's leadership: "China's political stability is strong, because the country is developing very well in general, and the vast majority of people support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, hoping for stability and opposing unrest." He did not mention the demonstration

.

Beijing was on high alert Friday against any disruption to a historic meeting of the Chinese Communist Party as Xi is expected to secure a historic third term as president.

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