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By Micah McCartney
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Chinese dissident Peng Lifa, aka "Bridge Man," remains locked away, but a human rights activist told Newsweek the Nobel Peace Prize nominee left a lasting imprint on society by challenging the country's most powerful leader in decades.
On October 13, 2022, as China's draconian "zero COVID" measures dragged on, Peng draped a pair of large banners over the side of Beijing's Sitong Bridge. One labeled Xi a "national traitor." The other read: "We want food, not COVID tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns. We want to vote, not a leader. We want dignity, not lies. We are citizens, not slaves."
The lone demonstration took place three days before the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party handed him an unprecedented third term.
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Police detained Peng almost immediately, and censors scrambled to take down evidence of the banners from social media. To this day, entering Peng's name on Chinese social media yields no results. Protests are prohibited in China with few exceptions, and Xi Jinping is known to be sensitive about his image.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment by publication time.
Soon after Peng was taken away, messages echoing his words were anonymously sent to iPhones via the untraceable Apple AirDrop service. This fueled rising discontent that boiled over after a lockdown turned a fire deadly. What followed were the most widespread demonstrations seen in China since the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989.
Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Asia, Sarah Brooks, told Newsweek that Peng's actions showed there are "still individuals in China willing to take actions for principles" and hold the government to a higher standard. People who may not otherwise have been willing to come out did, she said.
Brooks pointed out that her organization and others have documented his protest and made it visible to the world, including Chinese diaspora communities.
"We're beginning to see human rights work not limited to borders. There are still ways of supporting movement building when we think of the future of Chinese society—people who are part of that are part of China's future," she said.
Peng has not been heard from since his detention, and his family are all being closely monitored, a source claiming to be in contact with Peng's close associates told Radio Free Asia.
Mike Gallagher (R-WI), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on China, nominated Peng for the Nobel Peace Prize on October 13 of this year, the one anniversary of the bridge incident. The prize will be awarded on December 10.
Asked how the higher notoriety that accompanies the Nobel Prize would affect Peng's situation in China, Brooks said it was hard to know, but at the end of the day, "it's a choice the individuals make."
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