China’s crackdown on anti-COVID protests has prompted calls from the global community to stand beside the protesters and take action against the Chinese authorities.
US media reports said blank sheets of paper, held by protestors, have become a symbol of a mass uprising being witnessed against the Communist-ruled strict zero-COVID policy. Writing for the American Magazine National Review, columnists Jianli Yang and Bradley Thayer argued that the legacy of the blank-page revolution will be long. They also contended that its implications are multifaceted and likely lit the fuse of a larger revolution that will yield a free China.
In a joint op-ed, Yang and Thayer say that Xi Jinping will do everything in his power to reignite fear in his comrades and in the people and to promote his image as that of an invincible great leader who knows best.
“The international community should use all available means to support pro-democracy forces and to deter the Beijing regime from resorting to force, and especially to prevent another massacre on the scale of Tiananmen,” they write.