An activist threw ink on an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Now she's disappeared.


A young Chinese activist named Dong Yaoqiong filmed herself throwing ink on a poster of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who in March obtained legal authority to stay in office indefinitely, and posted the video online. "I oppose Xi Jinping and his authoritarian dictatorship," she said. "Let's see how he's gonna deal with me."
In a later post on Twitter, Dong shared a photo that appeared to show police waiting outside her apartment. "Right now there are a group of people wearing uniforms outside my door. I'll go out after I change my clothes," she wrote. "I did not commit a crime. The people and groups that hurt me are the ones who are guilty." Since then, her Twitter account has been deleted; her video has been taken offline; and she has disappeared.
In response, other activists have reposted the video and protested her disappearance by splashing ink on other public images of Xi, posting photos using her hashtag, #InkSplash. Some unverified reports suggest Dong has been taken to Beijing from Shanghai, the site of her original protest.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imagination
Feature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?
Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacy
Feature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
China: Xi seeks to fill America’s void
Feature Trump’s tariffs are pushing nations eastward as Xi Jinping focuses on strengthening ties with global leaders
-
Kim Jong Un’s triumph: the rise and rise of North Korea’s dictator
In the Spotlight North Korean leader has strengthened ties with Russia and China, and recently revealed his ‘respected child’ to the world
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers