The man, identified as Zhang Jilin, reportedly said in an audio tape RFA acquired that he was going to deliver his public speech because he…
The man, identified as Zhang Jilin, reportedly said in an audio tape RFA acquired that he was going to deliver his public speech because he believed that other Communist Party leaders were as disenchanted as he was with Xi and that “the authorities won’t do anything to us” for attacking Xi personally.
While Xi has faced the usual opposition from human rights advocates, religious leaders, and anti-communists, several scandals of a non-ideological nature such as the widespread administration of faulty vaccines to poor children and the silencing of radical Maoists have made him extremely unpopular with sectors of Chinese life that typically do not challenge the government.
Zhang, RFA notes, has a history of dissidence using his online alias “Yue Family Gun.”
“Overall, I think that the time has come to force Xi Jinping out of office,” Zhang says in the audio RFA reported it has received of his speech. “If you don’t believe me, just watch me give this speech all day in the square, as the crowds of people keep on gathering.”
“I dare to speak out,” he continued, referencing the location of his speech. “I think Guanyinqiao Square will be our bridgehead in the struggle for democracy and constitutional government.”
A dissident familiar with Zhang told the outlet that he believed Zhang had gotten the impression that complaints about Xi in public would not result in his imprisonment because the government had not censored similar remarks he made on social media.
The Communist Party typically experiences public resistance from human rights attorneys, which it routinely imprisons, and members of religions not directly under the control of the regime.
