China’s zero-tolerance COVID-19 protesters disappear – BBC News

As China declares its victory against the COVID-19 pandemic The protests in November last year that brought an end to the zero-covid policy. starting to fade from memory But as the country moves forward Many people who participated in the protests began to disappear. from the quiet arrest of the authorities

Protests against the Chinese government’s strict zero COVID policy, known as “Blank paper rally” thousands of participants Hold up a blank piece of paper as a symbol of protest in the dark. It was a rare sight to criticize the government under the rule of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping.

At that time, the police arrested only a handful of protesters. But according to activists in China, as of now, months have passed. Several protesters were already in police custody. by one of the arrested groups More than 100 arrests are expected.

international human rights organization and foreign universities call for release Activist organizations have published the names and charges of those arrested. This included protesters in Beijing and other major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing.

Chinese authorities declined to respond to BBC inquiries about their detention. But from interviews to and lawyers. The BBC has identified 12 people arrested in Beijing, with at least five released on temporary bail. The remaining four women were charged with inciting the riot. This is a charge that carries up to five years in prison and is a law used to suppress dissenters.

many arrested a well-educated person Some of them attended universities in the UK and USA. Among them are writers, media professionals, musicians, teachers, and finance professionals.

Massive group arrested in Beijing It was a loosely organized group of friends. The police interrogated them to insist that they were a “feminist” or feminist group. at feminist activities or not China has stepped up its repression and censorship of women’s rights activists in recent years.

Although these groups are socially active people. And some of the members have shown their support for the #MeToo movement by female writer Shanxi. But friends of the arrested confirmed that Their friends are not activists or activists.

“They are just a group of young people who are concerned about society.. My friend is not only interested in women’s rights. but also human rights and the most vulnerable. This has nothing to do with feminist activities,” said one of the detainee’s friends.

On Nov. 27, 2022, women from the group took part in a nighttime protest at a public rally in Beijing. which is held simultaneously in many cities across China It was triggered by a fire at a high-rise building in the western Chinese city of Urumqi. The fire that killed 10 people, which is widely believed to be Residents of this apartment were unable to escape the fire due to COVID measures. But local officials have disputed the allegations.

After that protest Later, the rally began to turn into a peaceful rally under the symbol of raising a blank sheet of paper.

“The conditions in China have long been tyrannical. they don’t think himself joining in the movement They just think it’s a way to release their emotions,” another friend said.

“They didn’t clash with the police or make extremist comments. They didn’t even think it was serious.”

Friends of the detainees also said they concealed their identity very little during their rallies. It is well known how quickly China was able to silence protesters.

It was unclear why the police had targeted the group. But there are reports that the police traced it from CCTV. and facial recognition software Including finding the phone number of the protesters.

one of the arrested Has created a discussion group via Telegram application. And there are more than 60 members joining. Many people in the group use their phone numbers to sign up using their real names. two days later Some of them were taken by the police for questioning.

“We were talking on the phone as she was being taken away,” said the boyfriend of one of the detainees. “She told me that some of her friends were being taken away and lost contact. She tried to delete the data from her phone but was caught before everything was deleted.”

Activists say The arrests escalated from December to January. Record your own video along with instructions to publish the video immediately if she goes missing.

“What we do is express our feelings rationally,” Sao said in the clip, which has now gone viral on social media.

“We don’t want to disappear… If attending a grieving show is a crime How will there be room for us to share our feelings with each other?”

Many human rights organizations and educational institutions demanding the release of these protesters Goldsmith University in the UK confirmed to the BBC that Li Xiqi was a former university student. while expressing deep concern for her welfare

A university spokesperson said: The university made a letter to the Chinese ambassador to the UK. demanded Li’s release. But the Chinese embassy has not responded to the request.

in the United States University of Chicago and the University of New South Wales. Also confirmed that a former Chinese student who had been studying has disappeared.

borderless media organization State that Li Siqi is a media person. Human Rights Watch said the arrest indicated that Young people in China pay a very high price for speaking out on freedom and human rights. along with stating Chinese authorities have intimidated lawyers and friends who try to help those arrested.

Observers expressed the view that Chinese authorities want to signal about the arrest as a means of “Slaughter the chicken to show the monkey.”

“They want someone the protesters believe is the leader or organizer. And those who play an important role will be severely punished,” said human rights activist Thein Biew.

“The instinct of the Chinese authorities is to find out if there are Westerners behind the demonstrations.”

Many of those arrested were women. and was questioned for being a supporter of the women’s rights movement. This shows that the authorities distrust the feminist movement.

in the past few years High-ranking Chinese officials involved in cases of violence against women and sexual harassment This led to intense criticism and increased support for the women’s rights movement. After more currents The government cracked down on the so-called Feminist Five in 2015 before being censored and attacked online, and the Chinese Communist Party recently denounced the “extreme feminist rights group” as a “dangerous tumor”.

As for the fate of the participants of the rally It is unclear what they will face after this.

Human rights activist Dong Biao speculated that those who had been released on bail could still be arrested. Those held in custody will continue for several weeks while prosecutors consider prosecution. But that could take several months. or a year if it is a political case

The detainee’s family kept silent. Some cut off editing with friends of their children who were arrested. Without knowing the reason, Yang Changking, a former human rights activist Seeing that because they were under a lot of pressure.

However, the former rights activist said international scrutiny could help detainees.

“sensitive political cases Detainees may be released earlier or better treated because of external pressures.”

Meanwhile, the group of friends of the arrested are concerned about their own safety Causing everyone to share information. Many of them are overseas and did not participate in the protests. but was afraid of being targeted by the authorities Because contact with the arrested and their efforts to tell the world about it.

Recently, they received a message from one of the detainees from the prison. They just want to make sure their captured friends still have hope.

“They (the interrogating police) made us feel that we were surrounded by friends who betrayed or betrayed us,” she said, “but we still believed we were standing together,” said one of the detainees.