Chinese students studying in the US on Tuesday held a candlelight vigil for the people killed in a blaze in an apartment in Xinjiang’s Urumqi, while protests continued in China yesterday against COVID-19 lockdowns, which have been blamed for the deaths, even though Beijing warned of a “crackdown.”
At the University of Southern California, students held candles and blank sheets of white paper while calling for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to step down and chanting: “Down with the Chinese Communist Party [CCP].”
One of the students, who gave his name as Jason, told reporters: “I would feel ashamed if I did not take a stand,” referring to his relative safety overseas even as compatriots who spoke out at home faced the threat of arrest.
Photo: AFP
Beijing’s top security body on Tuesday warned that authorities would “crack down” on the protests in China, which erupted over the weekend across major cities and continued in Guangzhou on Tuesday night and into yesterday, according to witnesses and social media footage.
Security personnel in hazmat suits walked shoulder-to-shoulder, taking cover under see-through riot shields, on a street in Guangzhou’s Haizhu District as glass bottles smashed around them, videos posted on social media showed.
In the footage, people can be heard screaming and shouting as orange and blue barricades were pictured strewn across the ground.
Photo: Reuters
People are seen throwing objects at the police, and later nearly a dozen men are filmed being taken away with their hands bound with cable ties.
Jason said that freedom of speech is the greatest of human rights, as a society cannot advance if people cannot express their opinions.
No Chinese media, especially social networking platforms, are carrying stories on the protests, Jason said, adding: “This does not happen in a normal society.”
We are holding up blank pieces of paper to tell the world that “we want to express our mind, but we cannot,” he said, adding that the event has spread so fast because the younger generation in China has great expectations for freedom and democracy.
However, there is still a long road before freedom and democracy are implemented in China, he said.
Jason said he was familiar with the democratization processes in Taiwan, adding that the protests in China, like the 1979 Formosa Incident, are the beginning of a democratic movement.
We need more people to “wake up,” because it will take many years before a tipping point can be reached, he said.
Another Chinese student who gave her name as Xiao T said she was against Beijing’s “brutal” COVID-19 pandemic policies and wanted to pay her respects to those killed in the fire in Urumqi.
Xiao T said that a Chinese social media account of hers had been locked for three days just because of her posts, adding that the experience had disappointed her.
“I hope this movement will achieve something,” she said.
Another Chinese student who identified herself as Xiang Xiang said she hoped one day to meet the people “who are fighting for our freedom” and tell them of her support in person.
With our material wants satisfied, most of us are trying to meet our spiritual needs, Xiang Xiang said, adding: “For the younger generation, freedom of speech is indispensable.”
“When the people cannot express their opinions on the government’s policies, it is easy to experience a sense of disappointment in one’s country,” she added.
Separately, a member of the Hong Kong Forum in Los Angeles said that Hong Kongers have been waiting for the Chinese protests for 33 years.
Seeing so many Chinese students supporting democracy and protesting against the CCP is a morale boost for all Hong Kongers abroad, they said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS