Tiananmen student leader sees Xi Jinping weakened by protests Alternative Nobel laureates from Africa, Ukraine and Venezuela honored

“You can fool your people for a while, some people maybe even their whole lives. But never think that you can fool everyone forever,” exiled dissident Wu’er Kaixi told the Tagesspiegel (Thursday edition).

“The Chinese people are neither stupid nor weak. That should make you tremble, Xi Jinping,” said the 54-year-old. The recent protests filled him with hope. However, he also fears an escalation. “I definitely don’t want to see a second massacre.”

The dissident referred to the bloody crackdown on the 1989 democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. Still, Wu’er Kaixi encouraged protesters not to fear the Chinese leadership. “Tyrants fear nothing more than fearless men,” he said.

He also apologized to the demonstrators for failing to turn things around in 1989. “We failed to overcome the dictatorship 33 years ago. We have entrusted this task to you, the next generations. I’m sorry about that.”

Wu’er Kaixi was one of the most famous student leaders of China’s pro-democracy movement, who was brutally put down in 1989. After the massacre, he fled China, where he was persecuted. He now lives in exile in Taiwan.

Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policy and associated lockdowns have sparked a nationwide wave of protests in China. The protests are now also directed against President Xi Jinping. It is the largest protest movement since the democracy protests in 1989. (sda/afp)