On July 12th, Taiwanese anti-Communist internet personality, Bajiong, released a video on overseas social media of Hebei youth Zhang Qiyuan seeking help. Zhang had been summoned by the local police station after criticizing Xi Jinping’s dictatorship in a livestream, and he issued statements declaring that he wouldn’t commit suicide or compromise. Currently, the young man is missing.
Bajiong shared Zhang Qiyuan’s distress video on the 12th, stating that this anti-Communist young man has disappeared. “He sought my help the day before yesterday (July 10th). If he disappears, please remember him, Zhang Qiyuan.”
In a self-recorded video on July 10th, Zhang Qiyuan said he was at home, expressing concerns that if he didn’t respond to messages within 24 hours, it meant the national security, internet supervision office, or local police station had come looking for him.
Zhang Qiyuan authorized Bajiong to release the video, emphasizing that it proves he is in China. Showing some footage near his home, Zhang said, “I am in China, openly opposing Xi Jinping.”
The video then transitioned to a short clip from a livestream, showing Zhang Qiyuan wearing a black mask, asking, “Can’t you say that Xi is a dictator?”
He stressed, “This is my own opinion in the Sai Lei livestream. If you see me confessing on television behind the wall, it’s fake and not true.”
He added, “This is due to threats I have received. Bajiong, you can use this video to confront them.”
In a statement in the video, he said, “I, Zhang Qiyuan, declare that I will not commit suicide or be killed. I will go to the Dongfeng Police Station in Baoding City at 5 p.m. today, and this video can prove it.”
According to mainland Chinese netizens who spoke to Dajiyuan, now is a sensitive time for the so-called anti-riot maintenance in the Communist Party of China. Beijing, Hebei, and other places are checking identification cards at subway entrances and even inside trains. The relevant departments in Hebei Province have also intervened, indicating that the situation will not be easily and lightly resolved, but will face strict crackdown.
They emphasized, “Now is the week of early voting campaigning in Taiwan on July 26th, which is very likely to be used as a card to play. Therefore, this matter will escalate domestically, especially in our country. Hebei is close to Beijing, where even ordinary people are not allowed to petition, with layers of control. In the case of this young man (Zhang Qiyuan), he is highly likely to be dealt with forcefully.”
In the past, Xi Jinping has frequently been the target of both domestic and international criticism, ridicule, and mockery, with Communist Party authorities searching for these critics.
The case of Youth Fragile Jun (pseudonym), from Hong Kong, known from the “Fragile Pieces Chronicle” YouTube channel, gained attention. He began making “milk tea” (mockery) videos around the age of 14. At 15, he was taken away by the Hong Kong National Security Police for making a “mockery” video (mocking Xi Jinping), on charges of incitement. At 16, he left for the United States to seek political asylum.
During last year’s Halloween period, young people in Shanghai dressed up as “Winnie the Pooh” and “Emperor Xi,” with some wearing monitoring camera models to mock the omnipresent surveillance system. It was later reported that they faced repercussions from the Chinese authorities.
On April 15th this year, three banners appeared on a pedestrian bridge in downtown Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, stating messages like “Without political system reform, there is no national rejuvenation,” “The people do not need an unconstrained ruling party,” and “China does not need someone to dictate the direction; democracy is the direction.” This action was seen as a reenactment of the “Four Ton Bridge Incident” from the past, and the protesters subsequently went missing.
The “Four Ton Bridge Incident” refers to the large banners and political demands displayed on the Four Ton Bridge in Beijing on October 13, 2022, just before the Communist Party’s 20th National Congress. The protester, Peng Lifa, was taken away by the police at the scene.
During the Beidaihe Conference in August last year, some senior cadres called for the Communist Party to step down. National People’s Congress professor Leng Jie published an open letter addressed to two vice chairmen of the military commission in the Communist Party, Zhang Yuxia and He Weidong. In the letter, Leng Jie mentioned hearing through WeChat that Xi Jinping was seriously ill and unable to work, leaving the overall work of the party, government, and military to Zhang Yuxia and He Weidong, hoping they would support his proposal.
He reiterated his previous idea of a federal system framework, urging the Communist Party to work with the government of the Republic of China to create the Federal Republic of China and a joint government, advising the Party to voluntarily withdraw from single-party rule and exit the stage of history.
Domestic sources familiar with the incident stated that after the open letter, Leng Jie was not purged, but the authorities only requested his silence and blocked all his external contacts through WeChat and his circle of friends.