"Give me liberty or give me death." Protesters in cities throughout China were actually chanting Patrick Henry's revolutionary war cry from 1775 this week, as tens of thousands poured into the streets in defiance of the authoritarian regime in Beijing. The demonstrators, mostly young, chanted "We don't want emperors!" and held up blank pieces of paper to symbolize their inability to speak freely. Thus far, President Xi Jinping has not ordered a violent crackdown, but police cleared streets and photographed protesters' faces. Those images will be fed into China's Orwellian face-recognition database, which tracks every citizen's cellphone and monitors everything from their internet activity to jaywalking. It takes unimaginable bravery — and the pent-up anger created by suffocating repression — for people to defy authority in a society where "bad" citizens can be dragged away and swallowed by the monstrous maw of the state.
Millions of Iranian women and men are summoning equally inspiring courage to defy their theocratic rulers' dress and moral codes. Protesters are chanting "Death to Khamenei" in 220 Iranian cities, with hundreds sacrificing their lives in bloody battles with police. Iranians, a female university professor in Tehran wrote under a pseudonym, are demanding "the separation of religion from state. This revolution is about freedom of choice." The passionate uprisings in Iran and China, as well as Ukrainians' fierce resistance against Russia's genocidal invasion, should remind us of the fragility and preciousness of America's freedoms. Our founding ideals, tarnished and dented as they might be, still serve as lodestars to oppressed peoples around the globe. In recent years, the 45th president and those who welcomed or excused his assault on democracy showed us that we cannot take self-rule and fundamental rights for granted. Strongmen and demagogues are always waiting in the wings. The struggle for freedom never ends.
This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Should Labour break manifesto pledge and raise taxes?Today's Big Question There are ‘powerful’ fiscal arguments for an income tax rise but it could mean ‘game over’ for the government
-
Nigerian Modernism: an ‘entrancing, enlightening exhibition’The Week Recommends Tate Modern’s ‘revelatory’ show includes 250 works examining Nigerian art pre- and post independence
-
To the point: the gender divide over exclamation marksTalking Point 'Men harbouring urges to be more exclamative' can finally take a breath – this is what using the punctuation really conveys
-
The Chinese threat: No. 10’s evidence leads to more questionsTalking Point Keir Starmer is under pressure after collapsed spying trial
-
TikTok: A little help from Trump’s friendsFeature Trump’s new TikTok deal would hand the app over to 'his billionaire allies,' ignoring national security concerns
-
China: Xi seeks to fill America’s voidFeature Trump’s tariffs are pushing nations eastward as Xi Jinping focuses on strengthening ties with global leaders
-
How Benjamin Netanyahu shaped Israel in his own imageThe Explainer He has seldom been personally popular, but ‘King Bibi’ is an exceptionally shrewd operator
-
Kim Jong Un’s triumph: the rise and rise of North Korea’s dictatorIn the Spotlight North Korean leader has strengthened ties with Russia and China, and recently revealed his ‘respected child’ to the world
-
Did Trump just push India into China's arms?Today's Big Question Tariffs disrupt American efforts to align with India
-
'A symbol of the faceless corporate desire'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can anyone save Jimmy Lai?Today's Big Question 'Britain's shameful inaction' will mean it's partly 'responsible' if Hong Kong businessman dies in prison
