Xi’s Speech at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party

The unprecedented third term for Xi is a clear warning to the region and the world, but a solitary bridge protest shows that a “leader for life” can still be upstaged and challenged. 

Washington, DC (October 16, 2022)  In response to Xi’s opening speech at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The Campaign for Hong Kong releases a statement from its President, Samuel Chu:

"Xi's speech at the NPC opening session echoes that of Putin's at the Munich Security Conference in 2007 - in which two leaders-for-life spilled their visions unapologetically their ambitions to remake their respective regions and the international order in their image - where autocracy trumps democracy, rule by law replaces the rule of law, and annexation by force in the name of "reunification" is legitimized.

The unprecedented third term for Xi is a clear warning to the region and the world. Like Putin, Xi has amassed power by eliminating the opposition, rivals, and anyone who would dare to disagree. And we have witnessed calamities and causalities one unaccountable leader can cause.

In the process, Hong Kong has become merely the conquested - another crushed rebellion melted onto Xi's "iron throne" - a deterrence to future uprisings.

Yet that has not snuffed out courageous acts of protest a mere stone's throw from the Great Hall, where a solitary individual unfurled banners from Sitong bridge in direct defiance and challenge against Xi's reign. The bridge protest has struck a chord globally - in the mold of the 1989 Tiananmen "tank man."

For decades, mass protests have been Hong Kongers' core identity. Now that they are no longer possible under the NSL, Hong Kongers and activists abroad can see themselves in the lone, anonymous bridge protester. This solitary and powerful act captures the new reality faced by Hong Kongers - the high cost of dissent and the impermissibility of mass protest. 

But the act also reminds and inspires - that no amount of censorship and imprisonment could erase the ideals and aspirations of people longing to be free. That's why this single act has resonated so broadly and quickly - all the pomp and circumstances for one self-proclaimed "leader" could still be upstaged and challenged by a simple protester."

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