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.
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 – 21 NovemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Can the UK do more on climate change?Today's Big Question Labour has shown leadership in the face of fraying international consensus, but must show the public their green mission is ‘a net benefit, not a net cost’
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will US Catholics rebel against the Pope?Podcast Plus what are the ethics of freezing your late partner?
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Who are China’s Westminster spies?The Explainer MI5 warns of civilian ‘headhunters’ trying to ‘cultivate’ close contacts of MPs and peers
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Why are China and Japan fighting over Taiwan?Today's Big Question Comments on Taiwan draw Beijing's rebuke
