TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A 1989 Tiananmen Square student protest leader spoke on the "White Paper" protests that have spread across China, warning the communist regime of potential collapse if it opts for bloody repression rather than easing its strict zero-COVID lockdowns.

"History repeats itself; the Chinese communist party leaders could see themselves overthrown overnight if you consider the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991," said Wang Dan (王丹) in a FB post on Sunday (Nov. 27).

Wang said the next day on his YouTube channel that he is now in Taipei, Taiwan, and feels excited about the anti-government demonstrations staged across big Chinese cities.

To extend his support to the demonstrations and student protests across 50 universities over the weekend following a deadly lockdown fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, Wang hosted a small gathering of people concerned about the situation in China at Taipei's Freedom Square. On the square, Wang held a white A4 paper, which read "Chinese lives matter (中國人的命也是命)," calling the communist regime's zero-COVID policy "life-threatening" and blaming it for countless deaths that could have been saved.

The zero-COVID policy under the Chinese leader Xi Jinping's leadership is not sustainable and the whole country is paying a huge price for it, he said, and "the Chinese Communist Party could pay the price too."

"The White Paper uprising started on Saturday (Nov. 26) in Shanghai, where the party was founded a century ago," Wang pointed out. He predicts the party will meet a swift end if its powers opt to quell civil disobedience with excessive violence.

Wang thinks it is unwise for the party to engage in repressing the mounting dissatisfaction stemming from a crippled economy and high inflation induced by strict COVID lockdowns. "If the CCP repeats itself 33 years later with more bloodshed, it could lead to greater backfire than before."

Based on his experience at Tiananmen, Wang suggested that the slogan for the movement should be simple, concrete, and down-to-earth: "anti-lockdown, anti-zero policy, and calls for freedom," for example, and that clearly identifies the source of their pain, which will help them galvanize support from other groups.

Wang also called for a nationwide non-cooperation movement, such as delaying paying off mortgages and withdrawing cash from the bank in order to put economic pressure on the government to seriously address the people's demands.

Wang also shared other tips with protesters for their own safety, such as avoiding protesting alone, aiding fellow protesters, and not leaving personal details on social media platforms to avoid surveillance.

"I pay tribute to the Chinese people protesting against power and striving for freedom," Wang said, and he hoped the movement could continue regardless of its size until the people's requests are seriously addressed.