By Lee
On January 1, 2025, a student at the Vocational Technical School in Pucheng was found dead on the ground outside of his dormitory window.
According to the report of the CCP investigation team, at about 10 pm on January 1, 2025, a student with the surname Dang had difficulty falling asleep in his fourth floor dormitory due to the noise being made my his roomates. Following that, the report claims he had a verbal and physical conflict with another student with the surname Guo.
According to the report, Dang then went to the first floor accompanied by another person by the name of Chen, a member of the Student Union, and reported the situation to Lei, the deputy director of the Political and Educational Department. After Lei took Dang and Guo to mediation, the two returned to the dormitory. At about 3 am the next day, Dang’s roommate Huang found a wooden stool under the balcony window of their shared dormitory. The sliding window was open, and the diamond mesh screen had been removed, and as the report states, Dang had fallen out of the window to the ground outside.
On January 5, the CCP investigation team issued a report stating that after the police department’s on-site investigation and monitoring, they had confirmed that Dang had died from a fall from his dormitory window, and a criminal case was ruled out. In other words, they believed that Dang committed suicide.
In fact, on the day of the incident, the mother of the deceased was notified to go to school, but the school did not explain the reason why she was being asked in. After arriving at the school, she was unable to see her son’s body. Instead, she was taken to a classroom by a teacher for supervision and was not allowed to leave for some time. After staying at the school for a few hours, she was sent directly to the funeral home where her son’s body had been transferred. There, she observed that her son had many bruises on his body, so she tried to take pictures, but was stopped by the accompanying teacher. After that, she requested several times to see her son’s body again, but her requests were denied. In addition, the mobile phones and smart watches of those who witnessed the events were confiscated, and the photos were forcibly deleted. The most important thing is that there are obvious signs of fighting in the dormitory. But this is not the whole tragedy.
On January 5, the uncle of the deceased was also taken detained and beaten by the police.
Although the police notice mentioned that there would be a review of the surveillance footage, the school has claimed that the footage was damaged and no one was allowed to view it. The school’s refusal to give access to the surveillance footage and the treatment of the deceased man’s family suggests that this was not a simple suicide.
According to wintesses, Dang was beaten to death by the principal of a local high school, who has a considerable protection in the political arena.
While this tragedy is extremely infuriating, the reaction of the masses was both a reflection of that anger and a touching response to Dang’s death. On January 7, more than 50,000 people went to the vocational school, a government building, and the police station, and asked the government to release the arrested uncle and investigate the crime. Thousands of people gathered at the entrance of the vocational center, and the family members of the deceased addressed the crowd and accused those involved in the cover-up of corruption.
Some of the people protesting in various departments shouted “Long live the people” and some yelled “Release the people”. In short, there was a confrontation between the masses and the police. They people angrily shouted phrases such as “Why are you pointing guns at us?” “The police are bandits!” “The police are gangsters!” “The police are the biggest evil forces in Pucheng!” Facing the human wall formed by the police, the masses bravely broke through it. They forced the police into a corner and to the front of the gate. They banged on the gate and windows and smashed the surveillance cameras in anger.
The battle at the Vocational Technical School was the site of the most intense of the confrontations. The masses broke through the school’s iron gates, broke through the police’s defenses and entered the campus, destroying offices, canteens and other facilities. The vice president of the school was also beaten by the angry masses. When he got into an ambulance, another crowd tried to overturn the ambulance.
Faced with fierce protests, the Chinese government then adopted more powerful repressive measures. Special police and armed police were dispatched to deal heavy blows to the masses, and a large number of people were injured. As a result, the unarmed masses were forced to disperse.
After the mass movement was temporarily calmed, the Chinese government claimed that the demonstrators were unjustifiably hateful and hostile.
Subsequently, a large number of armed police guarded the main streets and even blocked the highway in Pucheng. Many hotels were also filled with special police from other places. Only a week later were they able to control the streets near the vocational school.
Although this mass movement was forcibly dispersed, it was one of a number of protests with more than 10,000 people in recent years. The Foxconn strike and the White Paper Movement in 2021, the 10,000-person protest against medical insurance reform in Wuhan in 2022, the victory of the Meituan takeaway strike in Shanwei in 2023, the strike of thousands of taxi drivers in 2024, and this protest all illustrate a problem: more and more people have realized the dark and dictatorial means by which the CCP rules. And they have begun to bravely stand up and fight for freedom and liberation.
Therefore, the Pucheng incident is likely just the beginning rather than a climax to social protest in China.
In the above events we can see that the revolutionary consciousness of the masses is gradually being brought back. But every socialist in China must join this trend, first of all, to expose the lies of the Chinese government, and secondly, to hinder the spread of poisonous liberal ideas among the masses. The masses must understand that the liberal program cannot overthrow the rule of the CCP, nor does it represent the will of the people. The people must liberate themselves and manage themselves. If the above vision cannot be realized, tragedies like that which occured in Pucheng will always exist.
We believe that the fading of the Pucheng mass movement is only temporary, and that it will return as a nationwide revolutionary wave in the future, combining with movements in various places that will deal a fatal blow to Chinese imperialism.
