On the occasion of the third anniversary of the Beijing ‘Situong Bridge Incident’, the Chinese community in Los Angeles gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate on October 26th (Sunday) to commemorate and call for the release of Peng Lifa, also supporting another courageous warrior who hung banners the day before in Sanlitun, Beijing, denouncing the Communist cult and fighting for freedom.
In the afternoon, dozens of human rights advocates and residents from Southern California gathered in front of the Los Angeles Consulate, demanding the immediate release of the ‘Situong Bridge Warrior’ Peng Lifa by the Chinese authorities, an end to the persecution of his family, and urging the international community to continue to pay attention to the human rights situation in China.
The event also showed support for another warrior in Sanlitun, Beijing, who held banners demanding freedom and human rights. The man hung two white banners outside a building, one stating “The essence of the Communist Party is anti-human and anti-humanity cult, it will bring endless disasters to the Chinese people”, and the other saying “Lift the party ban, allow freedom of party formation, free competition, free choice, establish: a new China of freedom, humanity, and rule of law”.
The rally was jointly organized by the China Democratic Party International Alliance, the Chinese Social Democratic Party, Awakening New Era, and the End CCP International Alliance. Some participants held banners saying “Release Peng Lifa”, “End tyranny”, “Judgment of Xi Jinping”, while others held banners similar to those hung by the Sanlitun warriors. They also raised a giant poster with the content of the banner suspended by Peng Lifa on the Situong Bridge.
Slogans echoed at the scene from time to time, attracting passersby to stop and learn about the stories and spirits of the two Chinese warriors.
On October 13, 2022, Peng Lifa (also known as Peng Zaizhou) hung banners on the Situong Bridge in Beijing with slogans such as “We want to eat, not get tested for nucleic acid, we want freedom, not lockdown”, and shouted slogans through a loudspeaker, calling for the removal of Xi Jinping and rejecting authoritarian rule. This scene shocked the world and became an important individual event in Chinese people’s history of resistance.
After Peng Lifa was arrested, there was no information about him. Informed sources revealed that he had long been subjected to torture and mental torment, with reports of tragic news such as blindness, paralysis of the lower limbs, etc. Yet, the Chinese authorities have consistently refused to release any information or allow lawyers to visit. His wife and young daughter have also been under long-term soft detention and monitoring, visits by family members have been obstructed, communication has been cut off, and the child has been forced to drop out of school.
Despite the severe persecution of Peng Lifa and his family by the authorities afterwards, his spirit of resistance has been respected and highly praised by the outside world.
Liu Yinquan, Chairman of the Chinese Social Democratic Party and head of the Anti-China Political Persecution Alliance, said that during the epidemic, the Chinese Communist Party deprived people of their most basic freedoms through lockdown measures. At that time, Peng Lifa had contacted him, and he still stood up knowing the consequences.
“He shouted for freedom with his life, while too many people in the free world remained silent,” he said. “The CCP is the enemy of humanity, whether in domestic repression or foreign infiltration, its nature has never changed.”
During the free speech session, many participants recounted the suffering brought to themselves and their families by the CCP’s use of the epidemic to bind them and protested against the Communist Party’s totalitarian rule that annihilates humanity.
A woman from Beijing who did not want to reveal her name said she witnessed how the CCP covered up history.
“During the June 4th incident, some of my mother’s friends and classmates were persecuted, some were killed. For years, every time I tried to post a commemorative message on social media, it was censored and deleted,” she said. “Situong Bridge is not just a bridge; it symbolizes the Chinese people’s pursuit of freedom. Peng Lifa exposed the lies, awakened hearts, and this courage will never be extinguished.”
Miss Shi Shuping, a backbone member of the China Democratic Party International Alliance and the person in charge of this event, said that when Peng Lifa hung banners on the Situong Bridge and shouted “We want freedom, not nucleic acid,” it was not for himself but to speak up for the hundreds of millions of silenced Chinese people.
Shi Shuping said that since seizing power, the CCP’s persecution of the Chinese people has never stopped, from the Anti-Rightist Campaign, the Great Leap Forward to the Blank Paper Movement. “Peng Lifa’s actions are the most sober resistance to this hidden war. He shattered lies with the truth, reminding us: the hope of the nation lies in those who dare to reveal the truth.”
Member of the China Democratic Party International Alliance, Pijiaohai, pointed out in his speech that Peng Lifa is not guilty, he was just expressing demands using the legitimate rights of citizens. “The real guilty party is the CCP regime that abuses power and tramples on human rights. Peng Lifa’s eight words are not a crime, but the voice of the people,” he said. “The CCP is afraid of the truth because it exposes the true nature of its tyranny.”
“We support Peng Lifa, we support every Chinese person fighting for freedom. The CCP will perish, and China will be reborn on the foundations of freedom and dignity,” Pijiaohai said.
One of the organizers, Mr. Wang Wenyuan, said that the persecution of Peng Lifa and his family by the CCP is “the destruction of conscience and families.” He called for the CCP to publicly disclose Peng Lifa’s whereabouts, release him, and all the family members who have been implicated.
“The call from the Situong Bridge is the echo of the conscience of all China,” Wang Wenyuan said. “For the truth, freedom, and humanity, we will not be silent.”
Jielijian, the head of the China Democratic Party International Alliance, said that Peng Lifa stood up to speak for the hundreds of millions of oppressed victims of the CCP, “He is a beam of light of freedom in the darkness of tyranny, and the ‘Blank Paper Revolution’ he sparked forced the Communist Party to lift the lockdown”.
He said: “The Blank Paper Revolution is the largest mass resistance movement since June 4, 1989, it is also the Communist Party’s fear of bowing down; the spirit of resistance awakened by Peng Lifa will inevitably drive the disintegration of the Communist Party.” ◇