Overseas Chinese activists mark two years since White Paper protests

Taipei, Taiwan — 

Chinese exiles gathered successful cities astir the satellite to people the 2nd day of the “White Paper Movement” successful China, saying the demonstrations against the COVID-19 lockdown policies person inspired a caller procreation of pro-democracy Chinese activists.

To forestall the dispersed of coronavirus crossed China, the Chinese authorities from aboriginal 2020 to precocious 2022 regularly imposed lockdowns connected full buildings, villages and adjacent cities.

The 2022 question was a nationwide citizen-initiated protestation that yet forced the Chinese authorities to extremity the restrictive policies successful November of that year.

In Amsterdam, a candlelight vigil marked the day with immoderate 50 radical who held flowers, candles, pieces of blank paper, oregon wore achromatic masks. They gathered astatine Dam Square successful downtown Amsterdam connected Sunday.

Other commemorations were held successful Berlin, London, San Francisco and Tokyo. At the events, exiled activists shared their experiences during the monthlong, nationwide protestation from 2 years ago.

They remembered the protesters who stay successful detention aft participating successful the demonstrations and commemorated those who mislaid their lives during a deadly gathering occurrence successful Xinjiang’s superior of Urumqi. Lockdown measures whitethorn person kept firefighters from entering the high-rise successful clip and prevented immoderate residents from exiting the building. The occurrence killed 10 people.

Following the deadly event, a protestation erupted connected the field of Nanjing University of Media and Communication connected November 25, 2022, wherever students held up blank pieces of insubstantial arsenic symbols of their protests against the Chinese authorities’ power of escaped speech.

“Following lengthy lockdowns crossed China, It felt similar the civilian nine was connected the brink of an detonation successful November 2022, truthful erstwhile I work the quality astir the deadly occurrence successful Xinjiang, I felt similar we were each surviving successful hell,” said Rei Xia, an exiled Chinese activistic and 1 of the organizers of the vigil successful Amsterdam.

The question was dubbed “the White Paper Movement” oregon the “White Paper Revolution” arsenic demonstrations dispersed to respective cities, including Shanghai. Police arrested galore participants. Those detained said they were tortured.

“I besides remembered being forced into a country astatine the detention halfway portion the guards tried to unit maine to confess to immoderate forged testimonies by threatening to shave my caput oregon prolonging my detention,” Rei Xia told VOA by phone.

"I was surrounded by the constabulary astatine the scene, punched and kicked, and past I was picked up and carried to the van by the police,” said Jack Wei, a erstwhile White Paper Movement subordinate from Chengdu, who present lives successful the United States.

“When interrogated, I said that I was against the pandemic prevention argumentation ... and I wanted to devour [and] not bash coronavirus tests. They forced maine to motion a missive of repentance and gave maine a warning,” helium recalled during a league successful San Francisco connected November 17.

VOA reached retired to the Chinese overseas ministry and the Chinese embassy successful Washington for remark but did not person a effect astatine the clip of publication.

While hundreds of overseas Chinese took portion successful candlelight vigils, applicable keywords were censored connected the Chinese internet. When VOA entered “the White Paper Movement” connected the fashionable microblogging tract Weibo, determination were nary applicable results.

Although galore protesters were targeted successful the nationwide crackdown pursuing the protests, Huang Yicheng, a 28-year-old erstwhile pupil of Peking University, managed to flight from apprehension and hid.

Months later, helium fled to Germany via Hong Kong and began to publically advocator for different White Paper protesters who had been arrested oregon detained by Chinese authorities.

“I go an advocator for different participants aft going into exile, and I person to header with each kinds of harassment and risks associated with the Chinese government’s progressively predominant transnational repression campaigns,” helium told VOA.

While memories of the question person faded for immoderate people, Huang said the protests created almighty symbols that proceed to animate a younger procreation of Chinese activists.

“The blank papers, candles, flowers and the roadworthy motion of Urumqi Road are each important symbols of absorption for young Chinese activists,” Huang said.

Some exiled Chinese activists said the White Paper Movement has besides rejuvenated the overseas Chinese ideology movement, which has been chiefly headed by activists from the Tiananmen Square Massacre successful 1989.

“Since the White Paper Movement, galore young Chinese radical overseas person begun to emerge, and this inclination provides caller anticipation for the overseas Chinese ideology movement,” U.S.-based Chinese quality rights lawyer Teng Biao told VOA by phone.

Huang successful Germany said immoderate strategies utilized by activists extracurricular of China person inspired protesters successful large Chinese cities, but the rapidly shrinking abstraction for dissent and activism successful China is making attempts to signifier protests much difficult.

“After overseas Chinese radical successful New York combined Chinese governmental sarcasm with Halloween successful 2022, we person seen akin tactics being utilized by young Chinese radical successful Shanghai during Halloween successful 2023 and 2024, but section constabulary rapidly enforce restrictions and apprehension people,” helium said.

Teng successful the U.S. said Beijing’s efforts to tighten power implicit civilian nine person not lone deprived Chinese radical of their basal rights and freedoms but besides led to convulsive acts crossed the country.

“The Chinese authorities’ effort to bounds state of code and restrict citizens’ basal rights person pushed galore radical to the brink and astatine a clip erstwhile the Chinese system remains sluggish, the underlying societal situation volition beryllium exposed,” helium said.

Huang said since the Chinese authorities volition apt support its repressive attack to controlling civilian society, overseas Chinese activists similar him tin lone effort to item the problems that beryllium successful China.

“We tin lone impulse radical successful overseas countries to wage attraction to the antithetic kinds of problems successful China.” He said helium is disquieted the convulsive attacks successful caller weeks whitethorn origin deeper issues successful the state going forward.

With nary hint of Beijing loosening its power implicit the state successful the horizon, Xia successful Amsterdam said she is determined to support tracking societal and quality rights issues successful China.

“Social movements person go an important portion of my beingness due to the fact that of the White Paper Movement, and this acquisition has truly empowered me,” she said.

Zhou Chenxing from VOA Mandarin contributed to the report.