(New York) – Chinese authorities should immediately release the man who unfurled banners critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the draconian “Zero-Covid” policy on Beijing’s Sitong Bridge two years ago, Human Rights Watch said today.
The authorities have not released information about the protester’s identity, though many in China believe that his name is Peng Lifa (彭立发, also known as Peng Zaizhou [彭载舟]), age 50. There are also unverified reports that some of his family members may have been put under house arrest.
“The Chinese government may have taken away the ‘Bridge Man,’ but his arrest ignited widespread support for a free and democratic China,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “Two years since Peng Lifa was taken into police custody and forcibly disappeared, his message continues to resonate.”
On October 13, 2022, a man in a construction outfit unfurled two banners on Sitong Bridge in Haidian district in Beijing. One read: “We want food not Covid testing; we want freedom not lockdowns; we want dignity not lies. We want reform not the Cultural Revolution; we want to vote not a leader; we are citizens not slaves.” And another read: “Go on strike, depose the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping.” The police immediately took him away and he has not been seen since.
Under international human rights law, government authorities commit an enforced disappearance when they refuse to acknowledge the arrest or detention of someone, and provide no information on the person’s fate or whereabouts with the aim of removing them from the protection of the law.
Peng’s protest was rare in a country where police closely monitor all public spaces and dissidents. Control was especially tight in the capital ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress at the time of the protest. While authorities quickly censored all news about it, Peng’s messages nonetheless spread.
In late November 2022, thousands of people in 31 cities across China protested and demanded an end to the Zero-Covid pandemic measures. The direct cause of the unprecedented wave of protests was a deadly apartment fire in the Xinjiang region’s capital, Urumqi, on November 24, 2022, during which people became trapped and died due to pandemic lockdown measures. The demonstrators held blank papers—hence “white paper” protests—and chanted slogans such as “We want freedom not Covid testing” and “We want reform not the Cultural Revolution,” which resembled those of Peng.
On July 30, 2024, a 22-year-old activist who participated in the White Paper movement, Fang Yirong (方艺融), put a Peng-inspired banner on a bridge in Loudi City, Hunan province, and posted a video online saying that he “hope[s] that the Chinese will get rid of autocracy and live a better life as soon as possible.” Police arrested Fang in early August and his current condition is also unknown.
“International pressure is vital when human rights activists are forcibly disappeared,” Wang said. “Concerned governments should use the anniversary of Peng Lifa’s disappearance to raise his case and press the Chinese government for his immediate and unconditional release.”
