Three years have passed since the “Blank Paper Movement,” but its echoes continue to reverberate, still awakening the post-90s and post-2000s generations in mainland China, much to the fear of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As the third anniversary of the Blank Paper Movement approached this year, authorities across the country increased security measures and tightened control preemptively.
From late November to early December 2022, several Chinese cities saw protests led by university students, holding up blank sheets of paper to protest against the CCP’s “zero-COVID” policy. Some even shouted slogans like “Down with the Communist Party, Down with Xi Jinping.” Among these cities, Shanghai stood out as one of the core locations of the movement.
On November 26 this year, a Shanghai resident, Mr. Wang, told Epoch Times that the CCP is particularly sensitive towards the Blank Paper Movement, with Shanghai recently placed under a Level 1 alert, resulting in streets filled with patrolling police officers.
A video circulating online recently also reveals the authorities’ nerves and heightened alertness. In the footage, a man traveling around China on a motorcycle arrived in Shanghai on November 24. When he took out a flag at the Bund Peace Hotel to take a photo, two plainclothes police officers mistook the content on the flag as “subversive” and swiftly snatched it away.
The video sparked discussions both domestically and internationally. Some netizens sarcastically remarked, “It’s almost the anniversary of the Blank Paper Revolution, is that why they (Chinese authorities) are so sensitive?” and “Nervous, alert at every turn.”
Young activist Chen Bangchao, who has since left mainland China, expressed, “The Blank Paper Revolution has greatly inspired my thinking. Without the guarantee of citizens’ freedoms, including freedom of speech, a democratic system cannot function.”
“My thoughts slowly changed. When the Blank Paper Revolution happened, I thought those people were very brave. I felt that the blank paper should be filled with something better, so I started creating subway declarations.”
At the end of 2022, Chen Bangchao began drafting subway declarations and posted them in the streets of Guangzhou. These declarations encompassed demands for educational reform, dismantling the Great Firewall, judicial independence, and human rights in Xinjiang.
Chinese activist Zhu Gaofeng stated that over the years, CCP leader Xi Jinping’s relentless actions have led to many individuals being threatened and intimidated by the authorities for expressing dissent. However, this has contributed to their awakening. “In these three to five years, there have been many people awake, possibly more than in the previous two decades in China.”
He pointed out that the CCP fears the awakening of the people, which has intensified their repression efforts. Yet, ironically, this has backfired. “The group of awakened individuals in China continues to get younger and more widespread. The more the CCP tightens its control, the more the youth resist, making it easier to uncover the problems within the CCP.”
He revealed that many of his post-90s and post-2000s friends, especially those born after 2000, are awakening at a significantly high rate. “I believe that over 30% to 40% of the post-2000 generation have awakened, and there is also a significant number on the verge of awakening, ready to awaken instantly.”
Today, three years later, the awakening force ignited by the Blank Paper Movement continues to spread among young generations.