Updated August 5, 2024, 5:20 p.m. EDT
A protester who slung a pro-democracy banner from a footbridge in the central Chinese province of Hunan while a loudspeaker blared calls for the ouster of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has identified himself as a 22-year-old who took part in the 2022 "white paper" movement, according to a prominent citizen journalist.
The banner bore a series of slogans very similar to the Oct. 13, 2022 Sitong Bridge protest in Beijing by Peng Lifa, who was detained immediately afterwards and hailed as a hero by democracy activists.
"The person who hung the Sitong Bridge slogan banner on the overpass in Xinhua county, Loudi, Hunan, was a 22-year-old local youth, Fang Yirong," the X account "Mr Li is not your teacher" said in a post on Aug. 2.
The post also contained a video clip of a young man introducing himself as Fang Yirong, although the video clip didn't directly refer to the banner protest.
"I'm a young person who took part in the 'white paper' movement," Fang said, in a reference to nationwide protests that triggered the end of three years of draconian COVID-19 restrictions at the end of 2022.
"Last year, I was placed under watch by police after I posted some views to Telegram in support of democracy," Fang says in the video. "Since then, the police have engaged in inhumane brain control and persecution against me."
Fang, whose identity couldn't be independently verified by Radio Free Asia, said he was making the video to show he no longer feared the authorities.
"Tyranny is, by definition, terrifying," he said. "But authoritarian rule can't entirely suppress people's minds."
‘I will have no regrets’
He said no action under Xi could suppress all forms of political dissent.
"It doesn't matter what Xi Jinping does to suppress us; it won't stop democratic ideas from taking root, time and time again, in the minds of Chinese people," he said, adding that he expects further retaliation from the authorities.
"I expect that following my action, I will be treated as mentally ill. I could also wind up dying in prison. But I will have no regrets," he said, adding: "I hope the Chinese people will soon throw off this dictatorship and lead better lives."
The Hunan banner read: "Equality, not privilege. Freedom, not control. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders."
"Only when we cease being slaves will we become citizens," read the banner, which appeared on July 30, according to "Mr Li is not your teacher."
Slogans also blared from a loudspeaker, calling for strikes by students and workers.
"We want democracy! We want to vote! Oust Xi Jinping!" the speaker said.
The banners were shown in two video clips of 26 seconds each posted to the X account "Mr Li is not your teacher."
Too risky?
The loudspeaker slogans were clearly audible on both clips.
According to online accounts, the banners were hung from a pedestrian footbridge on Tianhua Road in Loudi, a city of 3.7 million people in the center of Hunan province just one kilometer (0.62 miles) from the county police department and three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the local Xinhua county seat.
X commentator Revolt Times said they had mixed reactions to Fang's video.
"I had complicated feelings seeing Fang Yirong's actions," the account commented on Mr Li's original post. "On the one hand, he was very courageous ... but he chose such a risky way to protest."
"In today's China, the price to pay for such behavior is unimaginable. I don't want to see any young people sacrifice their future for expressing their demands. It's too heartbreaking."
In Los Angeles on Saturday, dozens of democracy activists gathered outside the Chinese Consulate for a rally in support of Fang Yirong.
Demonstrators held up the portraits of Fang and Peng and displayed a white banner with slogans in red letters, with slogans such as "Remove the dictatorial traitor Xi Jinping" and "We want freedom, democracy, and votes."
"This event has been viewed nearly one million times on Twitter," said Li Guangmang, a member of the exile China Democracy Party.
"By supporting them, they can gain more attention, bring more pressure to the Chinese government, and make it possible for domestic political prisoners and dissidents to be treated well and released early," he told Radio Free Asia's Mandarin Service.
"Fang Yirong knew that doing so was like flying into a flame, but he did not back down," said Zhou Lanying on the sidelines of the protest.
Take a moment to read more
[ Protest in China's Hunan calls for democracy, end of Xi Jinping's ruleOpens in new window ]
[ One year on, where is China's lone 'Bridge Man' protester?Opens in new window ]
[ China arrests artist who painted, tweeted portrait of ‘Bridge Man’ protesterOpens in new window ]
People in China frequently challenge those in power, despite pervasive surveillance, a " grid" system of law enforcement at the neighborhood level and a targeted " stability maintenance" system aimed at controlling critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party before they take action.
Yet those who take part in public shows of peaceful dissent like the November 2022 " white paper" movement risk detention, imprisonment, and the harassment of their loved ones, even if they are overseas.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Updated with reports of the protest in Los Angeles.