Protests have broken out across Communist China in response to Xi Jinping's tyrannical and destructive zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19. Meanwhile, civil unrest has raged across Iran since September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest and beating by the thuggish "morality police." These movements deserve praise and support from the free world.
The protests in China have been described by the Wall Street Journal as "an unusual show of defiance in the country as the economic and social costs from snap lockdowns and other strict restrictions escalate."
Protests have broken out in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, in Nanjing and in Wuhan, as well as in other cities across the country.
At Tsinghua University in Beijing, students have chanted, "Democracy and rule of law!"
According to CNN, protesters have even been heard courageously chanting, "Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!" In Shanghai, protesters have been recorded chanting, "Don't want COVID test, want freedom!" and "Don't want dictatorship, want democracy!"
This show of defiance is rare in Communist China, where the government ruthlessly suppresses dissent, controls information and utilizes facial recognition technology to track down protesters.
The Communist regime in China may think it can maintain a stranglehold on the will of the Chinese people to be free, but inevitably, its hold will break. That will be a great day for humanity when that finally happens.
Likewise, protests in Iran have underscored the unsustainability of the authoritarian Islamist regime there.
The death of Mahma Amini after her arrest for violating the nation's hijab mandates has prompted a righteous response from people across Iran tired of living under the thumb of backward, misogynistic tyrants.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 348 protestors have died and thousands more arrested.
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi is among those who has been arrested. He has reportedly been tortured while in custody and, according to CNN, faces the possibility of execution for supporting the protests.
"For decades, Iran's regime has denied fundamental freedoms to its people and suppressed the aspirations of successive generations through intimidation, coercion, and violence," President Biden said in a statement on Oct. 3. "The United States stands with Iranian women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery."
While it's unclear whether either of the current waves of protest will be the beginning of the end of either tyrannical regime, they are important reminders that no government, no matter how tyrannical, can indefinitely suppress the desire of people to be free.
May the people of China and Iran someday be free from the despots suffocating their potential.
—The Editorial Board, Southern California News Group
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