G20’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

“The Chinese Blank White Paper Revolution”

'Whoever is going to watch the World Cup or anything that aired worldwide, could you please hold a blank paper to show your support to the Chinese people and help to raise the awareness of what’s going on in China? People are being arrested for the cause of their basic human rights and many went missing. we really need your support and help to convey their true messages that supposed to write on blank white paper which they can’t.'

The Chinese blank sheets of white paper revolution is one of the boldest displays of dissent against President Xi and authorities in years after Tiananmen square in China. The display of wordless papers means ‘We are the voiceless and leaders are brutal, but we will never be silent’, protests have broken out all over the China and reaching the largest public dissent to the Chinese Government since the Tiananmen Square massacre. I called it as “The Chinese blank white paper revolution”, since the nature of the movement was a peaceful, non-violent march and revolution to overthrow the dictatorship and dictatorial government. The aim and objective were restoring the freedom, human rights, and democracy in China, which gives a new chapter to the world history book and sends clear message to their own hard leaders and government that they are not always being in silence.

Such widespread demonstrations are unprecedented since the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement riveted on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square that was crushed with deadly force by the army, where death of popular leader Hu Yaobang that lit the fuse.

This time is another deepening despair over the downfall of Xi Jinping and of the communist party that has ruled China with an iron fist for seventy-three years, criticism that is deemed seditious and punishable by years in prison. Most people in protests are expressing frustration over a system and calling for China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to step down, he is neither performing as promised or responding to their basic rights and concerns.

Barely a month after granting himself as a new power as China’s potential leader for life. Xi is facing a wave of public anger of a kind not seen for decades. Demonstrators poured into the streets over the weekend in numerous cities including Shanghai and Beijing, chanting slogans, and confronting police. A number of university campuses also experienced protests.

But some also shouted over a failure of the zero Covid policy, which shows no ending anytime soon. That has caused public anger to boil over. The protest focused their anger on rigid pandemic lockdowns, a form of virtual house arrest that can last for months and has been criticized as neither scientific nor effective.

Another important reason why people are using blank paper is because they are not allowed to say anything, make any comments due to the hard censorship. People came up with this sarcastic “blank paper” idea to express their fury and to avoid being censored, although the whole world may deplore China’s human right violations in general. I am sure that they have too much to say about those ridiculous things happening in China, but the government does not allow them to express, they use a very strong censorship power to control over people’s rights of speech, they couldn’t talk and write any bad or unhealthy speech to the government and leaders. They could not even write their President’s name or post any images of him and say anything of him, they are so afraid to use word “Communist”, “freedom”, “human rights” in their daily life because they are panic being watched by government in every single minute and block their social media accounts and even arrest them and put them in prison because government have all their information. So, the blank sheet of white paper means everything, all Chinese people know what that means, but to a certain extent, it displays “I am not saying anything on this paper, and you have no evidence to put me in prison”. In fact, they want life, not zero-Covid policy; freedom not lockdown; elections not dictatorship.” That’s what many people chanted so far, but finally; they found their voice through these blank sheets of white paper to the Chinese Government.

Using a blank sheet of paper is also sarcasm that mocks the social media platforms in China almost immediately censor and delete anything with a slight criticism of the policy. People are not allowed to say anything, so they say nothing with this piece of blank paper, which seems more powerful.

Of course! This is another Tiananmen moment in China with people’s victory, China has been engulfed by unprecedented country-wide protest. Demonstrators are calling for Xi Jinping’s resignation. Protests have spread to all major cities of China, Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xian etc.

Protesters have clashed with the police by saying that, we don’t want lifelong rulers, but we want vote. Do not be a slave, be citizen. We want freedom of press and freedom of speech. We want to make China great again and calling for freedom and step down, communist party of China. These slogans are spreading like the virus in the month of each and every protester. 

Let us help to amplify the brave voices standing up to the brutal CCP regime. And let us talk about their freedom of speech and try to convey the true message of this blank paper protest, where they can not write and speak under strong censorship power. Let us keep our solidarity to those protesters who have been detained and their conditions remain unknown. These people are extremely brave, and they deserve freedom and human rights. It is in human nature to seek freedom, and I don't think that China can live down another Tiananmen Square massacre again?

                                                                                                                     - Som