(Tokyo) Protests in China against harsh zero-COVID-19 policies are shattering the “myth” of a “harmonious society” and revealing deep discontent with power, a former leader said on Thursday. student of the Tiananmen Square protests.
“For the past 30 years, there has been a myth that the younger generation or the middle class were really happy with the government, but these protests are showing us the truth,” said Wang Dan, who fled to the states. United after the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen in 1989 and has lived in exile ever since.
“The truth is that it is not a harmonious society […] there are already a lot of conflicts between society and the government” in China, Wang added at a press conference in Tokyo.
He said the unrest would continue and could mark a new “era of protest”.
PHOTO RICHARD A. BROOKS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
“The first feeling that came to mind when I saw the incredible protests across China was that the spirit of 1989 had returned, after 33 years,” said former leader Wang Wang. protest movement of 1989.
Anger over China’s ‘zero COVID-19’ policy, which involves repeated lockdowns, near-daily PCR tests and quarantines, even for uninfected people, has led to protests since last weekend in several major cities in the country, including Beijing, Shanghai (east), Guangzhou (south) and Wuhan (center).
But protesters have also demanded broader political reforms, with some even calling on President Xi Jinping to step down.
“The first feeling that came to mind when I saw the incredible protests across China was that the spirit of 1989 had returned, after 33 years,” Wang said.
“Watching videos of Chinese students chanting ‘give me freedom or give me death’ brought me tears and hope,” he said.
Wang Dan was a 20-year-old student during the Tiananmen movement that ended with tanks and government troops being sent in to crush peaceful protesters.
He was placed on the Chinese government’s most wanted list and was imprisoned before going into exile in the United States.
The protests are a “hard blow” to Xi Jinping’s reputation, a few weeks after the start of his third term, Wang said.
“That’s why I think maybe, at the end of the day, he will decide to suppress, because he can’t afford to lose face.”