‘Let the World Know Our Stance’: Overseas Chinese Students Echo Beijing’s ‘Bridge Man’

Posters expressing support for the Beijing protest appear on college campuses outside of China. On Oct. 13, a rare protest occurred in Beijing, demanding an end to China's draconian zero-COVID policies and the removal of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Screenshot via Twitter

Just days ahead of China’s 20th National Congress, a protester unfurled banners from an overpass in Beijing, calling for reforming the country’s communist leadership and removing draconian COVID-19 measures. Following the rare protest, overseas Chinese students expressed their solidarity with “Bridge Man” through slogans that appeared on college bulletin boards.

On Oct. 13, Peng Lifa, whom overseas students refer to as “Bridge Man,” hung two large banners with slogans on the Sitong Bridge in Haidian District of Beijing. One of the banners said: “No COVID tests, we want to eat. No lockdowns; we want freedom. No lies; we want dignity. No Cultural Revolution; we want reform. No leaders; we want votes. We don’t want to be slaves; we want to be citizens.” The other banner called for the removal of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who is expected to secure an unprecedented third term.

Beijing police arrested Peng on the same day. Since then, there has been no information on his whereabouts or well-being.

Soon after the protest, Chinese authorities censored the internet. Words such as “Sitong Bridge,” “Haidian District,” “warrior,” and “Beijing” are banned for internet searches. “Banner” and “slogan” are treated as sensitive words.

Since the bloody crackdown on the student-led pro-democracy movement in June 1989, there have been no major protests against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Moreover, information about the Tiananmen Square massacre has been heavily censored and is a banned topic in China.

Peng is hailed as a hero and warrior. Wang Dan, a student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, told Radio Free Asia that Peng is China’s new “Tank Man.”

Chinese Students Abroad Support’ Bridge Man’

While universities and colleges inside China remain silent on the incident due to heavy censorship, Chinese students abroad, including in the United States and the United Kingdom, want to make their voices heard.

A Twitter user, an overseas Chinese student, called on his peers to take action immediately to “let the world know our stance.”

Posters expressing support for the Beijing protest appear on college campuses in the United States and South Korea. Screenshot via Twitter

Chinese students at several overseas universities—including the University College London, Central Saint Martins (a constituent college of the University of The Arts London), University of Michigan, California Polytechnic University, Stanford University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, New York University, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, and Busan University of Foreign Languages in South Korea—displayed posters in support of Peng, along with slogans that condemn the CCP’s atrocities.

One Twitter user wrote: “The participation of university students is the hope for change in China. These young people have brains and have actions.”

China observer Jiang Feng said on his YouTube channel on Oct. 13 that, in China, there is no shortage of “fearless warriors” who dare to fight alone; however, they can rarely inspire more people to join them in their cause.

According to Jiang, the CCP has come to a point where its power has become unstable due to domestic and external problems; however, Xi Jinping “still has two options: to become Gorbachev or to become Ceaușescu.”