China censors ‘Beijing’ on social media after anti-Xi Jinping protest in capital

The rare public protests against Chinese president Xi Jinping has sent China’s stringent online censorship into overdrive.

Chinese authorities have stepped into high gear to scrub the internet of evidence of a rare protest in Bejing that saw large banners on a flyover, calling for boycotts and the removal of Xi Jinping.

In an extreme step, Chinese censors have restricted the search time for ‘Beijing’ on social media after a rare public denouncement of Xi Jinping, reports suggest. As people are standing up against China’s strict Covid Zero policy of lockdowns and mass testing, the word ‘Beijing’ was put on China’s Censorship blacklist, reports said.

Two large banners were unfurled on the Sitong Bridge in Beijing, calling for the removal of Xi Jinping. The banner read, “Say no to Covid test, yes to food. No to lockdown, yes to freedom. No to lies, yes to dignity. No to cultural revolution, yes to reform.

No to great leader, yes to vote. Don’t be a slave, be a citizen.” Photos and videos on social media also showed plumes of smoke billowing from the bridge over a major thoroughfare in the Haidian district of the capital, The Guardian reported.

At a regular news briefing in Beijing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she was not aware of the protest.

The protest immediately invited Chinese censorship with search for “Sitong Bridge,” the site of the protest censored. Key words including “Beijing,” “Haidian,” “warrior,” “brave man,” and even “courage” were restricted on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform in China, CNN reported.

Posts containing words such as ‘Beijing, ‘bridge’, or ‘Haidian’ were strictly controlled and a song that shared the name of the bridge was taken down from streaming devices, AP reported. Some Twitter users also complained that their accounts were disabled on another major Chinese platform, WeChat, after they shared photos of the protest.

The protest comes just ahead of the 20th Party Congress, scheduled for October 16. At the key meeting, Xi Jinping is expected to extend his rule for another term. Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012, is expected to receive a third five-year term as party leader at the end of the congress.

There is no clear idea about the identity of the protester. While some internet users claimed to have identified the protester, others shared photos purported to be of the protester on the bridge, disguised in a construction helmet and shirt, as per a report by the Guardian.

According to Fang Zhouzi, a US-based Chinese science writer, the same slogans displayed on the bridge was earlier posted to his ResearchGate account by the man believed to be the protester. However, the Chinese police is yet to release any information on the identity of the protestor.