'Don't yell that': Fears compete with calls for 'freedom' at China protests - CNA

"BRIDGE MAN"

Public criticism of Xi or the Communist Party is exceedingly rare.

"The average Chinese person knows it's extremely dangerous to question the rule of the Communist Party or Xi Jinping by name in any public context," said Delury.

"There's a very strict regime of censorship that relies a lot on self-censorship, but the iron hand of repression is there to enforce it," he said.

Shortly before a Communist Party congress in October, when Xi secured a third term, a man hung banners criticising Xi and COVID-19 controls from a Beijing bridge before police bundled him away.

His act made headlines and earned him the nickname "Bridge Man". Some protesters told Reuters they were inspired by his courage and the words on his banners came up in chants.

But many on the streets seemed determined to show authorities they knew the limits of their defiance.

"Even though everyone wanted Xi to step down, the main speaker knew what to say, and told the police that we were all on the same side, and stopped onlookers shouting anything about stepping down," said Beijing resident Philip Qin, 22, who watched Sunday's events.

Demonstrators also stressed that no "foreign forces" or "organisations" were behind them and they had turned out spontaneously, according to a Reuters witness.

China blamed pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019 in part on foreign meddling.

"By declaring that they are spontaneous, they are signalling to the government that they know where the red line is and have not crossed it," said Diana Fu, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

In Beijing, Qin said he did not want to see things go too far but was also proud of the courage of those who came out and believed it had an impact.

"I hoped the crowd could stay safe and not ask for things that were too out of line," he said.

"The world will know about us ... I think it will have a huge impact on COVID-19 prevention measures to come."

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2022-12-02 09:18:48Z
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