The demonstrations held in several Chinese cities in recent weeks to challenge Beijing’s authority — even demanding the resignation of President Xi Jinping — were the most daring protests in decades, acknowledged Ai Weiwei, quoted by the news agency. . Press (AP).
It is “an important moment” but unlikely to go further, the activist said, noting that challenges to the Chinese Communist Party (CPC, one-party) are often violently suppressed, as happened two years ago with the pro- democracy in Hong Kong.
It is necessary to “be realistic,” he defended, explaining that in China “everything is a matter of control to ensure that the entire nation follows Xi’s direction.”
The activist, who currently lives in Montemor-o-Novo, Évora, signed a 2020 documentary entitled “Coronation” about the confinement declared in Wuhan, China, where in 2019 the first known case of infection by SARS CoV was discovered -two.
In the work, Ai Weiwei illustrates the country’s official response to the pandemic, often described as ruthlessly efficient and ruthless.
The Chinese government’s “zero covid” policy included harsh measures that, according to Ai Weiwei, kept some people locked in their apartments for more than 100 days straight.
Three long years of lockdowns and other severe restrictions, along with the dismantling of civil liberties by the Xi Jinping regime, created an “enormous strain” on Chinese society that exploded on Nov. 25, when 10 people died in a fire that broke out in a building apartments, considered the dissident.
While authorities denied that the firefighters’ entrance and victims’ escape had been blocked by locked doors and other anti-virus controls, the case would eventually spark a series of public protests that are rare in the country.
In recent days, Beijing has eased some of the restrictions and today, apparently in response to the protests, announced a series of measures that will overturn the strictest bans.
However, Ai Weiwei cautioned that the protests were relatively small, with some involving just one or two people or even a neighborhood, as the country has a population of more than 1.4 billion.
The PCC alone has “about 100 million members, all loyal to the regime,” he said.
While he has no hope of significant change in China, the activist acknowledged that the protests showed encouraging signs and believed they could be “small steps” toward a more distant goal.
“It is clear that China’s new generation – students or young workers – is starting to have clearer ideas about the kind of regime that exists in China and this may lead them to demand a political change,” he admitted . , that such a scenario “will take a long time”.
The activist was also disheartened by the international silence in the face of calls for change by some Chinese, as foreign governments are more interested in economic relations with Beijing than human rights issues.
A staunch critic of the Chinese government, 65-year-old Ai Weiwei was arrested by Chinese authorities in 2011 and sentenced to nearly three months in prison. He has been living in exile since 2015, having recently moved to Portugal, where he guarantees he intends to stay.
The artist will take part in a rally in support of Chinese protesters on Saturday, in London’s Hyde Park, predicting the handing out of white sheets of paper (which has become the symbol of protests in China) that will be signed and with symbols of resistance to censorship painted with invisible ink.
Source: DN
