After the imposing military parade held on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, in Beijing, with troops marching in impeccable formations and state -of -the -art missiles on display, a single act of challenge about 1450 kilometers away began to capture worldwide attention.
On August 29, just a few days before the great parade, a projection of huge anti -communist slogans illuminated the night on the facade of a large building in the city of Chongqing, in southwest China.
“Down the red fascists! Dear the communist tyranny!” Said one of the messages. Another proclaimed: “Get up, those who refuse to be slaves!”
When the police broke into the room from where the projection was launched, Qi Hong, the activist behind the meticulously planned action, had already fled a long time, leaving only a handwritten letter in which people urged “not to help a tyrant.”
“I am increasingly disgusting the use that the state machinery government makes to encourage hate,” Qi tells DW, after arriving in London with his wife and daughters, pointing out that the parade was the drop that filled the glass and prompted him to carry out the projection.
These acts of dissent are rare in China, where public criticism of the Communist Party can lead to police harassment, persecution or jail.
In Weibo, one of the country’s biggest social networks, no information about Qi’s protest appears. For days, the most prominent searches were publications of praise to the parade, followed by the news of the arrest, on September 4, of a man accused of critical online comments about the event.
Public enthusiasm and silenced skepticism
Wednesday’s parade, which commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, attracted significant international attention thanks to the historical meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
A flood of media analysis and coverage focused on the display of modernized weapons and technological advances in Beijing.
He China DailyState newspaper in English, reported that the parade “received great praise of world leaders”, with a live broadcast that kept the Chinese “attached to their mobile phones and televisions.”
Wu Qiang, an independent academic and political analyst in China, describes DW the general environment as “a mixture of attention, enthusiasm and frustration before the voices they questioned [el desfile]”.
In the days before the great event in Beijing, the Chinese authorities closed parts of the capital under strict security measures. Local stores and subway stations near the route could not open and the residents had to keep their windows closed.
Wu points to DW that, during the military stop, the empty streets under strong control and the “carefully choreographed crowds” gathered in the Tiananmén square clearly reflected the contrast in the public feeling.
The bold act of dissent in the middle of the parade
Qi, the activist who organized the protest projection rejects what he calls “hate propaganda.”
In his opinion, the Communist Party of China insists on highlighting the atrocities committed during World War II for the Japanese military regime-which killed millions of people in the Asia-Pacific region-but avoids reflecting on the tragedies caused in his own country, including the Tiananmén massacre in 1989.
In July, weeks before the military parade of August 31, Qi began to plan his protest. He studied locations and practiced projections with harmless phrases. Then, he left China and activated the projector remotely.
The banner, in red letters on white background, added: “We want dignity, do not lies. We need reforms, not another cultural revolution. We want to vote, not a leader. They are not slaves, be citizens.” References to protest were quickly censored on social networks.
“I simply couldn’t stand it anymore”
Planned actions such as these have become more frequent in China, while dissidents seek ways to show their rejection of the government dodging the mass surveillance system.
After Qi’s public protest, the police arrested one of his brothers and a friend, in addition to interrogating his old mother in front of his home in China. Until the publication of this note, the Chongqing police have not responded to the request for DW comments.
In social networks, many have acclaimed Qi as a “warrior.” But, when talking to DW in London, he denies such a label: “I am just an ordinary person. I simply couldn’t stand it anymore, someone had to do something.”
Buddhist practitioner, who explains to DW: “I often talk to my children about karma … sowing, you will collect hate.” “I don’t want them to continue living in this society,” he added. “It’s like living in a sewer and, even so, having to say: ‘Smells good.'”
With additional Hoo Yu reports, DW correspondent.
(md/ms)
