TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Mike Gallagher, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on China Issues, nominated Peng Lifa (彭立發), the man behind the Beijing Sitong Bridge protest for the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (Oct. 13).
The Beijing Sitong Bridge protest took place on the eve of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) National Congress last year. Friday marked the event’s one year anniversary, CNA reported.
On October 13, 2022, three days before the opening of the CCP's 20th National Congress, Peng, who used the online alias Peng Zaizhou (彭載舟), stood alone on the Sitong Bridge in Beijing and unfurled an anti-CCP protest banner. The banner read "We don't want nucleic acid tests, we want to eat. We don't want lockdowns, we want freedom. We don't want a Cultural Revolution, we want reform."
It also said, “We don't want leaders, we want votes. We won't be slaves, we will be citizens." Peng Lifa was subsequently arrested by authorities in Beijing and has not been seen since.
Gallagher released a statement on Friday, nominating Peng for the Nobel Peace Prize. He said he wanted to draw attention to Peng’s historic protest against China's leader Xi Jinping (習近平) and the CCP’s dictatorship.
Gallagher said Peng’s courageous act triggered the largest protest movement since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. He added that the protest challenged the CCP's strict COVID-19 control measures.
The Tiananmen Square protests were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing between April 15 and June 4, 1989. The protests were sparked by the death of pro-reform General Secretary Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) in April of that year.
On June 3, after failed attempts to negotiate with protesters, the CCP declared martial law and sent the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to the sqaure to quell the protests. British diplomatic cables estimated that 10,000 people were killed during the crackdown.
Following the Sitong protest, more anti-Xi Jinping protest images where shared within China using Apple’s AirDrop file sharing function. China’s authorities had no way of censoring images shared via AirDrop, Vice reported.
Apple’s iOS 16.1.1 system update, released on Nov. 9, 2022 limited AirDrop usage in China between non-contacts to a ten minute window. Apple was widely criticed for assisting the CCP clamp down on dissent in China.
Gallagher previously called on called on Apple to maintain transparency during protest activities in China and to support human rights.
Voice of America (VOA) reported that that Peng Lifa's wife, Han Yang (韓洋), and their daughter, Peng Yunying (彭韻凝) have also been detained. VOA said that they were being held in Qiqihar City, in China’s Heilongjiang province.
On Friday, some Chinese netizens reported a strong police presence at the Sitong Bridge. On X (formerly Twitter), one person wrote, “Today, there are many plainclothes officers near Sitong Bridge randomly checking phones, everyone please be careful.”
Many people on the internet are concerned about Peng Lifa's current situation and urge the world not to forget the Sitong Bridge protest, per CNA.
