林影、韩双燕：反对中共独裁，争取民主自由：中国大学生的觉醒与抗争
🔥 A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire! — A Call for the Chinese People, Especially University Students, to Oppose Dictatorship and Strive for Democracy and Freedom! Dear fellow Chinese citizens, especially the young students currently pursuing their education:
I am Lin Ying, Dean of the School of Bioscience and Engineering at South China University of Technology. I am a member of the Chinese Communist Party, but above all, I am one of the 1.4 billion people of China. On this vast land, we have witnessed firsthand the degeneration and oppression of Chinese society. Over the past four decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continually strengthened its authoritarian regime, completely seizing control over all aspects of society—be it politics, the economy, or culture—leaving no room for independence. Power has become excessively centralized, people’s freedoms stripped away, and public voices suppressed. This dictatorship is fast approaching a point of no return.
Today, I speak to you with a heavy heart to make the most urgent and powerful appeal: It is time to stand up and resist this regime that oppresses us and robs us of our human rights. We must fight for democracy and freedom!
Xi Jinping’s Re-Election: The Endless Continuation of One-Party Rule On March 11, 2018, the National People’s Congress amended China’s Constitution, removing the restriction that the president could serve no more than two terms. This paved the way for Xi Jinping to remain in power indefinitely. Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has steadily strengthened the Party's control and pushed China toward a more centralized authoritarian system. The 2018 constitutional change effectively abolished prior constitutional checks and signaled the entrenchment of dictatorship in China.
With no legal obstacles to continued rule, Xi has reinforced his cult of personality through slogans like “national rejuvenation” and has vastly expanded his power. Many now believe that China’s leadership has morphed into a permanent position, akin to an imperial monarchy, while citizens’ freedoms, openness in society, and political pluralism are permanently stifled under Party rule.
This has intensified political uniformity and made the political environment even more closed. The public has virtually no opportunity to express their true opinions, especially the younger generation, who see no real hope for political reform or democracy.
Recent Events: Growing Hardship and Oppression
- The “Zero-COVID Policy” and Public Outrage In 2022, the Xi regime launched the “zero-COVID policy,” implementing extremely harsh lockdowns to contain the pandemic. Massive quarantines, strict control of pandemic-related information, and widespread lockdowns severely disrupted the lives of hundreds of millions. In cities like Shanghai, people were confined to their homes for long periods, often without adequate food or medical care.
At the end of 2022, protests erupted in Shanghai during the lockdown, symbolizing broader discontent. Citizens took to the streets to demand an end to the zero-COVID policy and better living conditions. Yet the government responded not with empathy, but with violent repression. Hundreds of protesters were arrested. Content related to the protests was scrubbed from social media. Even ordinary citizens and students who participated were met with police violence.
This event revealed the full extent of rights suppression in China: even the most basic right to protest was denied. The regime's extreme measures were solely intended to maintain its grip on power.
- The “996 Work Culture” and the Plight of Young People The economic environment and work culture in China are also worsening people's struggles. Many tech companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance, have adopted the “996” work system—9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. Widely criticized as a modern sweatshop system, 996 has pushed countless young people to the brink, both physically and mentally.
In 2021, large-scale protests and online debates erupted against 996. However, despite the rising public outcry, the government failed to act to protect workers’ rights. Instead, it intensified online censorship and clamped down on dissent that might tarnish the regime’s image.
This forced labor system and the regime’s iron grip on public discourse form an interlocking web of oppression, trapping both the working class and the youth in a cycle of suffering, without options or freedom to change their fate.
The Plight of Chinese University Students: From the Loss of Intellectual Freedom to the Loss of Action As the intellectual vanguard of society, university students ought to lead China’s social and cultural discourse. Yet, under China’s increasingly harsh political climate, students are facing growing repression. Through tight ideological control and surveillance, the government has forced many students into silence. Any discussion of history or criticism of the regime is met with strict censorship and punishment.
- The Tiananmen Massacre and Historical Amnesia The June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre is one of the most painful chapters in modern Chinese history. Yet today, most young people in China know almost nothing about it. Online discussions are censored, posts mentioning “Tiananmen” are deleted, and those who attempt to commemorate it face punishment. This enforced forgetting leaves young people cut off from the past, unable to learn its lessons.
In recent years, any academic exchange or campus activity involving terms like “political reform” or “democratization” has been shut down by authorities. At some universities, students who organize events calling for democracy are tracked, punished, and even expelled.
- Crackdown on Dissent and Student Silence For example, in 2020, Professor Li Haipeng of Nanjing University was dismissed for publicly criticizing the current state of China. Such cases are common. Both students and teachers are silenced under Party pressure. This is the harsh reality Chinese students face today: freedom of thought, speech, and even basic action is being systematically crushed. As a result, student voices have grown faint—or disappeared altogether.
Students, This Is Your Moment to Stand Up! Dear students: You are the hope of the nation and the vanguard of social change. The crisis we face today is not just about dictatorship; it’s about the collapse of morality, the rule of law, and the basic dignity of the people. Your thoughts and actions will shape China’s future—whether we remain in darkness or move toward light.
If you don’t stand up today, you may become the next victims of history tomorrow. Now is the time to speak out! You must demand freedom, democracy, and justice, and fight for a future where you can think, choose, and express yourselves freely.
Our Demands: Democracy, Freedom, and Human Rights End one-party rule and implement democratic elections. Dismantle the CCP’s authoritarian control, allow multi-party participation and fair general elections, and ensure that every citizen has the right to participate in politics and elect a truly representative government.
Restore freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Eliminate censorship, allow open political discussion and government criticism, and guarantee the people's right to know the truth.
Improve livelihoods and ensure social fairness. Strengthen social security, reduce income inequality, and expand access to education, healthcare, and housing so that every Chinese person has equal opportunities.
Establish a society based on the rule of law and protect human rights. Respect each citizen’s fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, assembly, and the press. Ban arbitrary arrests and political persecution. Ensure judicial independence and fairness.
Dear fellow citizens, and especially students: You have the ability and the responsibility to speak out for China’s future. Let’s make our country one no longer defined by lies and violence, but by freedom, democracy, rule of law, and justice. You are the pillars of the nation and the hope of this era. Your strength can change the future and bring light to our people.
In this critical moment, let us rise together and oppose Xi Jinping’s dictatorship. Call for democracy and freedom, and fight for the basic rights and dignity of every citizen!
For freedom, against dictatorship. For the people, rise and resist!