More than 200 people from Aotearoa New Zealand’s Chinese community gathered for a vigil at Auckland’s Aotea Square last night to mourn the lives lost under China’s stringent covid-19 lockdowns and to call for an end to the country’s “Zero Covid” policy.

The unprecedented display of defiance by a crowd mainly made up of Chinese Kiwis from the mainland came after a lockdown building fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, last week that killed 10 people.

The Urumqi fire has sparked nationwide protests across China and among overseas Chinese, with vigils and protests building up in major cities including New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

More than 100 people at the event held up blank pieces of A4 paper as a symbol of defiance against China’s censorship of dissent, and chanted in Mandarin: “We don’t want leaders, we want votes — we don’t want dictatorship, we want citizens”.

“Without freedom, I’d rather die.

“Xi Jin Ping, step down, CCP step down.”

A similar vigil for the Urumqi fire victims was also held in Wellington last night.

Step up after seeing suffering
In an emotional speech, one of the organisers of the Auckland vigil said despite having no previous experience participating in social movements, she had decided to step up after seeing the recent tragedies of Chinese people suffering under the lockdowns.

“There were a series of suicides in Hohhot where I come from, I felt at that time that I can no longer say everything is fine — we can say that for New Zealand, but my family and friends are in China, so I can no longer be silent,” she said.

Members of the Uyghur Muslim community from Xinjiang — where the Urumqi fire happened — also attended, showing solidarity and protesting against human rights violations against Uyghurs.

The protesters also called for the release of protesters arrested in China.

The organiser paid tribute to a list of Chinese citizens who had stood up against authority during the pandemic, including jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan and the lone protester on Beijing’s Sitong Bridge who displayed banners calling for people to strike and for the removal of Xi Jinping.

Like her, many at the gathering were first-time protesters emboldened by the recent protests in China.

Another protester said he was also inspired by the man on Sitong Bridge.

‘He gave us courage’
“He gave us a lot of courage. He was a person at the bottom of society, who did what he knew was forbidden, he sacrificed himself to awaken the Chinese people’s desire for a democratic society,” he said.

“I feel like he’s planted a fire in all our hearts, he’s like the Prometheus of our times.”

An international student who had just graduated from high school said she wanted to contribute to ending China’s lockdowns.

“If the protests could work and make all the cities stop the lockdown, I was so happy to come to come here today, hear everyone share their stories and using the A4 paper to show our anger.”

Another said he hoped the protests in China and abroad instilled a sense of what it meant to be a responsible citizen for Chinese people.

“If people want to live with dignity in a fair society, there needs to be a civil society,” he said.

‘Softer’ solidarity
Meanwhile, some at the gathering chose a softer way of showing solidarity with the victims of the Urumqi fire.

Chrysanthemums were laid and candles were lit, and a school aged child accompanied by his parents played “Do you hear the people sing” on his flute.

One attendee told RNZ he was glad that the people who gathered could find something in common regardless of where they were on the political spectrum.

“Some people want to see a revolution in China, others just want something small like for their residential area to come out of lockdown earlier, so that people can freely buy groceries,” he said.

“But people can easily find a common denominator, and that’s hoping things will move forward a little bit, and let friends and family living in China be safer and freer.”

At least two major cities in China — Guangzhou and Chongqing — have eased covid-19 restrictions following a clash between protesters and police in Guangzhou this week.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A View from Afar: Political scientist and former Pentagon analysis Paul G. Buchanan and investigative journalist Selwyn Manning and debate security, intelligence, and foreign policy trends and issues.

This week’s episode: Paul Buchanan and host Selwyn Manning discuss this week’s revelations by Paula Penfold and the Stuff Circuit team that a New Zealand tech company (with New Zealand Government investment) has been in business with iFlytec – a Chinese company alleged to be involved with surveillance of China’s oppressed Uyghur people.

Does this example underscore the perils facing New Zealand companies that enter into joint-ventures with Chinese interests in the surveillance and state control sector?

And should New Zealand Government front-up and provide answers as to how it invested in the New Zealand company that got into business with iFlytec?

ALSO MYANMAR, Buchanan and Manning discuss the latest disturbing events occurring in Myanmar. What has caused Myanmar’s military to once again overthrow a government and establish deadly totalitarian rule? So join Paul and Selwyn live, to comment, questions and interact in this debate.

COMMENT ON THIS DISCUSSION:

You can interact with the programme by clicking on one of these social media channels. Here are the links:

• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Youtube
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

Pacific Media Centre

Chinese authorities are systematically harassing Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups even after they have left the country, according to new testimonies gathered by Amnesty International.

Uyghur New Zealanders were among those interviewed, despite the threat of further intimidation.

The case studies, published online today, reveal how Chinese authorities target members of the Uyghur and other Chinese diaspora communities across the globe through pressure from its embassies abroad, as well as through messaging apps and threatening phone calls.

READ MORE: Uyghur harassment – Nowhere Feels Safe

Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand executive director Meg de Ronde says it is part of an ever-growing body of evidence of the Chinese government’s attempts to control and repress people speaking out about continued human rights abuses both inside and outside China.

“Governments have a responsibility to ensure people are free to practise their beliefs, whatever they may be,” she says.

“In China, the government is using tactics like enforced disappearances, intimidation and detainment to prevent these freedoms. The Chinese government is not only preventing them from practising their religious beliefs, they’re extending this to other countries as well.”

De Ronde says Uyghurs living in New Zealand, a majority of whom have fled persecution in the autonomous territory of Xinjiang in northwest China, have to maintain a low profile for their own safety.

“The situation for Uyghurs living in New Zealand is very delicate. We urge anyone working with this community to be mindful of their safety and what information is shared on what platforms to ensure they are not inadvertently putting anyone at risk.

“Uyghurs must be given autonomy over any processes undertaken with government departments or external organisations, their freedom over their own lives here must be protected.”

She adds the New Zealand government must monitor and protect against attempts to repress people living within New Zealand.

“It’s incredibly important that the government takes measures to protect the Xinjiang diaspora living here because the threats of further intimidation and oppression are very real for those living in fear.

“Everyone has the right to live in peace with the religion they choose. Amnesty International is also calling on Chinese authorities to allow UN human rights experts access to the region to conduct an independent investigation into the situation in Xinjiang.”

The Nowhere Feels Safe report
For the Nowhere Feels Safe report, Amnesty International collated information from approximately 400 Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups living in 22 countries across five continents over the course of a year between September 2018 and September 2019.

Their accounts reveal the harassment and fear being experienced by these communities on a daily basis.

Several Uyghur interviewees told Amnesty International that local authorities in Xinjiang had targeted their relatives back home as a way to suppress the activities of Uyghur communities living abroad.

Others said the Chinese authorities had used social messaging apps to track, contact and intimidate them.

The testimonies illustrate the global scope of China’s campaign against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and others originally from Xinjiang, with Chinese embassies and consulates tasked with collecting information about members of these ethnic groups residing in other countries.

Since 2017, China has pursued an unprecedented campaign of mass detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. An estimated one million or more people have been held in so-called “transformation-through-education” or “vocational training” centres where they have endured a litany of human rights violations.

Earlier this week, a 137-page Chinese government document leaked to several international media outlets listed the personal details of people from Xinjiang, including their religious habits and personal relationships, as a means of determining whether they should be interned in “re-education” camps.

The leaked details supported evidence of violations previously documented by Amnesty International.

An estimated up to 1.6 million Uyghurs live outside China, according to the World Uyghur Congress.

Significant diasporic communities of Uyghurs can be found in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Smaller communities live in other countries, including Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United States.

Republished from an Amnesty International media release.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz