‘We all saw it’: anti-Xi Jinping protest electrifies Chinese internetScramble to censor posts about Sitong bridge incident in Beijing where defiant banners were hung and a fire lit in lead-up to Communist party congress
Helen Davidson in Taipei
@heldavidson
Fri 14 Oct 2022 01.30 EDT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/14/we-all-saw-it-anti-xi-jinping-protest-electrifies-chinese-internetChinese authorities have strictly censored discussion of a rare protest in Beijing on Thursday that saw large banners unfurled on a flyover calling for boycotts and the removal of Xi Jinping, just days before China’s most important event of its five-year political cycle.
Photos and videos of the protest on the Sitong bridge emerged on social media on Thursday afternoon, also showing plumes of smoke billowing from the bridge over a major thoroughfare in the Haidian district of the capital.
“We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns. 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,” said one banner, while a second called for a boycott of schools, strikes and the removal of Xi.
The photos spread quickly on western social media but were quickly removed from platforms behind China’s internet “Great Firewall”. Posts containing the words “Beijing”, “bridge”, or “Haidian” were strictly controlled, and a song that shared the name of the bridge was taken down from streaming services, according to the Associated Press.
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