On the evening of November 26th, more than fifty activists from the Chinese Democratic Party stood at New York City’s Times Square, known as the “Crossroads of the World,” holding up blank sheets symbolizing censored speech to commemorate the third anniversary of the Blank Paper Movement. They expressed their thoughts: “A blank paper carries a thousand words without any written, silently resonating deep within. We are here to remember, to respect, and to let the world know – we are still persisting, resisting, and shining bright.”
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The Blank Paper Movement erupted at the end of November 2022, stemming from a major fire in a residential building in Urumqi, Xinjiang, which resulted in significant casualties, but the Chinese authorities’ control measures hindered rescue efforts. This incident sparked public outrage, starting from students at Nanjing Media College silently protesting with a blank sheet of paper, and the protest movement quickly spread to 21 provinces nationwide, becoming the largest and most widespread citizen action since the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Three years later, despite being scattered around the world, many Chinese citizens who participated continue to commemorate this symbolic movement of collective awakening.
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Tian Maochang from Beijing recalled the scene of the Liangma Bridge protests in 2022. He mentioned that due to the Urumqi fire and prolonged control, young people spontaneously gathered through community groups. When he arrived at Liangma Bridge, the streets were filled with crowds, with pedestrians and taxi drivers honking in solidarity.
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However, after 11 pm, plainclothes police began to disperse the crowd. He and his friends were arrested and detained for two days. Tian revealed that during interrogation, police repeatedly pressed him on whether he was “instigated by foreign forces,” even suspecting him of having ties with the “outside world” because he had attended a public lecture at the US Embassy in China.
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Upon release, Tian was forced to resign, and his family faced harassment. Therefore, he decided to leave China and eventually arrived in the United States in March 2023. However, even overseas, Chinese public security continued to pressure his family through withholding his parents’ retirement funds.
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Tian Maochang stated that the Blank Paper Movement made him realize that “ordinary people can also take action” and motivated him to continue voicing peacefully overseas. On the first anniversary of the movement, he and his friends went to the Chinese consulate in New York to hold a blank paper commemoration but were forcibly removed by consulate security. He said, “A blank paper made me understand that we don’t need weapons; a word, a piece of paper, is the beginning of freedom.”
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Zhang Yi from Qingdao experienced the lockdown of Shanghai in 2022. He mentioned that during the two months of lockdown, residents could only briefly go out for nucleic acid tests and felt like being driven out like cattle.
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After the Urumqi fire, Zhang Yi went to mourn at Wulumuqi Middle Road in Shanghai on the early morning of November 26th, where he heard people shouting, “We want freedom, not nucleic acid tests” and the next day, protesters chanting “Down with the Communist Party.”
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In 2023, he successfully reunited with his wife in the US and has participated in overseas blank paper commemorations for three consecutive years. He stated, “The Blank Paper Movement proves that Chinese people do understand freedom; they just lack the opportunity to speak out. This is the starting point of awakening, the flame of freedom.”
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Democratic Party member Hao Fangfang pointed out that she had shared Blank Paper Movement videos online in China, leading to her detention by public security, threats, and forced signing of documents. After arriving in the US with her family in 2023, she continued to engage in freedom and democracy-related activities through the Democratic Party. She said, “The Blank Paper Movement is a collective awakening of China’s younger generation. As long as China isn’t free, voices from overseas must not be silenced.”
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Li Jun from Heilongjiang recalled being monitored by the government from a young age due to his family background, facing bullying at school. During the pandemic control period, he was detained for protesting, beaten with a hood over his head, and his leg took nearly two months to heal.
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In 2023, Li Jun moved to the US and experienced unprecedented freedom and dignity. He expressed that the rebirth of his life filled him with hope and aimed to awaken more Chinese people to the value of freedom through his experiences. He emphasized, “Every person under the rule of the CCP is a victim, but we can choose to live with dignity, helping others is also helping ourselves.”
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Businessman Xu Jiankang from Hong Kong, in 2018, due to Xi Jinping’s “anti-corruption” campaign, was falsely accused of being a “triad leader” by local authorities in an attempt to seize his assets. He fled to multiple countries and arrived in the US in 2019. He mentioned that if caught back then, he “would probably be imprisoned for life.”
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After joining the democratic movement, Xu Jiankang actively participated in the Jasmine Revolution. He said, “The courage of the Blank Paper Movement reminds us that the world needs to know the truth about the Communist Party.”
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At Times Square that night, the blank paper reflected light under the neon lights. Participants did not need to chant complex slogans but symbolized unspoken sentiments with the simplest of blank spaces.
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As one participant at the scene said, “A blank paper is light, but it can awaken the sleeping,” “The spark is not extinguished; freedom has no end.”