According to anonymous sources, the dissident who publicly challenged "dictator Xi Jinping" in October 2022 and inspired the "blank paper" protest against the zero-COVID policy has been tried and convicted. Human rights groups are calling on Beijing to disclose his whereabouts and provide details about his trial. The case comes ten years after the crackdown on 9 July 2015 against Chinese civil rights lawyers, which continues to this day.

Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Peng Lifa, a Chinese dissident, has reportedly been secretly sentenced to nine years in prison. On 31 October 2022, he carried out a sensational public protest by unfurling banners against President Xi Jinping on Beijing’s Sitong Bridge just before the start of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

Nothing had been heard about him since some US media revealed his identity in December 2022, noting that he had been arrested shortly after his action and that his whereabouts were unknown.

However, according to reliable information received by Yesterday, a Chinese social media channel, Peng Lifa was tried and sentenced to nine years in prison on various charges, including “arson” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (the standard charge levelled against dissidents).

He was reportedly moved to an unknown detention location two months ago to serve his sentence.

Peng Lifa, known online as "Peng Zaizhou”, was born in 1974 in Tailai, Heilongjiang Province, and reportedly worked as a physicist for an acrylic products company in Beijing.

He became an international symbol for his protest banners which carried strong messages during China-zero-COVID policy.

One said: “We don’t want Covid Tests, we want food.” “We don’t want Cultural Revolution, we want reform. We don’t want lockdowns, we want freedom.” “We don’t want an autocrat, we want votes. We don’t want lies, we want dignity. We are citizens, not slaves.” 

A second banner called on residents to "go on strike at school and work, remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping.”

Despite censorship and repression, his protest did not remain entirely isolated; within hours, photos and statements related to his actions spread rapidly on social media, both inside and outside China, sparking widespread attention and becoming the catalyst for the "blank paper" movement.

Beginning in November 2022, protests against the zero-COVID policy broke out across China, marking a rare moment of political resistance in recent times. Just two months later, Chinese authorities decreed the end of the very strict restrictions implemented during the pandemic.

Over the past two years, several human rights organisations have repeatedly called on the government to disclose Peng Lifa's fate and guarantee him a fair trial, but the Chinese authorities have never responded.

This is another reason why the post published by "Yesterday" is significant. Although it has no sources of its own to confirm the news, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network considers it reliable.

“Peng’s so-called ‘crime’ was nothing more than expressing views Chinese authorities don’t like, but Chinese and international law guarantee free speech. This sentence is an indictment not of Peng Lifa, but of Xi Jinping’s profoundly politicized legal system,” said Sophie Richardson, CHRD Co-Executive Director. 

“Authorities should immediately release Mr. Peng. In the meantime, they must also clarify Mr. Peng’s location and the details of the criminal case and ensure he has access to his family and a lawyer of his own choice,” Richardson added.

It should be added that the latest report about Peng Lifa's fate comes on the tenth anniversary of the July 9 crackdown, the largest operation ever carried out against human rights lawyers, involving about 300 of them, marking a quantum leap in China's repression, in the early period of Xi Jinping's presidency.

Those targeted included lawyers who had fought for causes such as the adulterated milk scandal or anti-corruption campaigns, as well as defenders of religious freedom and freedom of expression. Many have served years in prison and remain subject to restrictive measures, which also apply to their families.

“While some human rights lawyers courageously continue their work, the Chinese government’s ‘709’ crackdown has severely reduced the pool of lawyers willing to challenge the state over its human rights abuses,” writes the CHRD.

“In the years since the ‘709’ crackdown, Xi’s government has carried out possible crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region, dismantled fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, shuttered schools teaching Tibetan language and culture while requiring students to attend state schools, altered the Constitution to permit Xi Jinping to rule for life, and increased transnational repression targeting activists and diaspora outside China.”

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