- Zhou Fengsuo was a Tiananmen Square protester who spent a year in prison in China.
- He said he thought Xi’s willingness to roll back zero-covid-19 measures was a sign of weakness.
- Zhou said he was moved to tears as he watched young protesters take to the streets to voice their anger.
Chinese President Xi Jinping “rarely shows weakness,” says a man who helped organize the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and survived the Chinese government’s brutal crackdown.
Zhou Fengsuo told Newsweek Xi’s willingness to backtrack on elements of the zero COVID policy suggests he is not infallible. Zhou, a student protester at Tsinghua University, He was arrested by the Chinese government and sent to a re-education camp For his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
“It’s hard to predict the outcome of the protests right now. But we’re already seeing some easing of the zero-COVID policy, which is a rare show of weakness for Xi Jinping,” Zhou told Newsweek.
Commenting on the protests – a rare sight under Xi’s rule – Zhou said students and young people opposing the Chinese government are “going through the baptism of political activism” and are “masters of their own destiny”.
“As a survivor of the Tiananmen massacre, I shed tears as I watched protesters chanting slogans of ‘End the CCP’ in Shanghai, the birthplace of the CCP,” Zhou said.
During the Tiananmen Square protests hundreds of Chinese students were killed When the Chinese government rolled in tanks to suppress the opposition. Chinese government never fully acknowledged the protests or released a death toll.
It was Zhou In 1995, he was allowed to leave the country and now lives in New York for him Twitter account.
Zhou told Newsweek that amid ongoing protests, Xi’s control over the Communist Party remains absolute.
“Xi Jinping still has complete control within the CCP. But his tight control also means that the system cannot handle surprises.
“In addition, the zero-COVID system has already been exhausted. But at this stage, it is still strengthened,” Zhou added.
Some COVID restrictions have been lifted in Guangzhou and Chongqing After mass protests in every major city in China, including the capital Beijing. At these protests, people appeared with blank sheets of paper – is a new symbol against the government. Although many of the protests had calmed down over the weekend, they were still there There was a clash between protesters and the police in Guangzhou on tuesday night.
