Dong Yaoqiong livestreaming herself defacing a poster of Xi Jinping in Shanghai, China, on July 4. Hua Yong/Twitter A Chinese woman has been missing…
Dong Yaoqiong livestreaming herself defacing a poster of Xi Jinping in Shanghai, China, on July 4. Hua Yong/Twitter
A Chinese woman has been missing for two weeks after posting a video of herself pouring black ink over a poster of Xi Jinping.
Dong Yaoqiong posted a video of her protest on July 4 and hasn’t been seen since. The original video has also been removed from her Twitter account, @feefeefly, but has been reposted by supporters.
In the video — in which she identifies the time as shortly after 6:40 a.m. and her location as Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial district — Dong is seen shouting: “I am against Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party” repeatedly, and accusing the party of carrying out “oppressive brain control.”
After defacing a poster of Xi’s face, Dong adds: “Seen it yet? This was my behavior,” before waving to commuters passing by.
Watch a version of the video, reposted by Chinese artist Hua Yong, below. Some of the audio and visuals in the repost don’t match up entirely.
Later that afternoon, Dong posted photos of what appeared to be police officers from a door’s peephole.
She said, according to the Hong Kong Free Press news site: “Right now there are a group of people wearing uniforms outside my door. I’ll go out after I change my clothes. I did not commit a crime. The people and groups that hurt me are the ones who are guilty.”
She has not been seen since that broadcast, and those photos have disappeared from her Twitter account.
A member of China’s People’s Liberation Army guarding a billboard of Xi Jinping in Hong Kong in June 2018.
Anthony Kwan/Getty
Hua, the Chinese artist, and Dong’s father have also been detained while publicly demanding her whereabouts, according to Agence France-Presse and Radio Free Asia .
Hua and Dong Jianbiao were reportedly detained after they livestreamed a video on Friday, in which Dong identified himself and called for his daughter’s release. A man purporting to be plainclothes police knocked on the door and said he wanted to take the pair away for investigation.
The video ends with the man entering the property without permission, and ignoring Hua when asked whether he had a search warrant.
Hua was detained for questioning and released on Monday, but has not yet been seen in person, Radio Free Asia reported. Dong’s whereabouts are currently not known.
Kevin Frayer/Getty
Dong’s protest comes as China amps up its efforts to secure Xi’s position as the most powerful man in China. The country abolished presidential term limits earlier this year, meaning Xi can rule forever if he wanted to.
People seen as a threat to China’s ruling party have mysteriously gone missing in the past. In 2015, five booksellers who had published works critical of Chinese leaders disappeared for two months. All have since reappeared, with four of them going on national TV appearing to confess to their alleged crimes against the Chinese state.
China has also routinely censored social media posts appearing to criticise Xi.
