China: “Let us hope that this wind of freedom will not be extinguished in a bloodbath,” says Saporta

It’s a rather beautiful story which begins at the start of summer, on a whim, a desire for dumpling soup at the end of the evening for four students from the University of Zhengzhou and which could lead to a Chinese youth revolution. These young people took local vélib’s to reach Kaifeng, 80 kilometers from their university. A challenge, a madness, a moment of freedom shared on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok. An adventure that went viral.

Many young people imitate them and also embark on this quest for ravioli soup which was only a pretext. Happy to meet again, to cycle, to sing. Nothing revolutionary to begin with. Some had the Chinese flag, others sang the national anthem. Besides, the authorities found this movement formidable and encouraged him.

Until the little troop becomes a human tidethat a crowd of bicycles invades the five lanes of the roads, that young people are joined by less young ones, that these cycling adventures spread to other cities. There, the authorities began to become afraid.

They argued that bicycles could prevent ambulances from circulating, that it was dangerous. They encouraged universities to impose restrictions on leaving campuses. The police began to supervise young people on bicycles. Local vélib’s have been programmed not to exceed limited perimeters.

Fear of the birth of an opposition movement

The revolution very often begins with the youth. Remember, in China, spring 1989, Beijing students who cycled to Tian’anmen Square to denounce the corruption of the Communist Party and demand democratic reforms.