'Violent' Response to China Protests Could Be End for Xi: Tiananmen Leader

A former leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests said the ongoing demonstrations in China, and a "violent" response from Beijing, could lead to the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In a Facebook post shared Sunday, Wang Dan warned President Xi Jinping against mobilizing the military, saying that if the CCP adopts "violent repressive policies" or opens fire on the protesters, like in 1989, the "collapse" of the CCP could happen soon.

"I said early that 'June 4' only happens once. If the CCP dares to mobilize its troops to shoot again, the CCP will surely be overthrown," Wang wrote.

In a rare show of public anger, protests have erupted across China over Xi's zero-COVID policy, which is believed to have led to the deaths of 10 people in an apartment fire in the city of Urumqi after lockdown measures delayed emergency teams from reaching the victims.

The pushback against the ruling CCP has triggered memories of the Tiananmen Square incident on June 4, 1989, when pro-democracy protesters who took over Beijing's city square were met with a brutal crackdown by armed troops. Estimates of the death toll range from several hundred to several thousand.

Wang, who lives in the U.S. as an exiled political activist, was one of the most visible organizers of the 1989 protests—a leadership role that put him on the top of China's "21 Most Wanted Beijing Student Leaders" list, according to Human Rights Watch.

On Sunday, Wang said the recent organizing and protests against Xi and the CCP have brought on "a new era in China." He pointed out that although the world may not be "ready" for the collapse of the communist party, the dissolution of the Soviet Union "also occurred overnight."

"If the CCP repeats itself 33 years later with more bloodshed, it could lead to greater backfire than before," the activist warned in a YouTube video.

Residents in cities like Urumqi have been under lockdown for more than 100 days, forcing many to remain in their homes.

China's strict COVID laws, and the country's refusal to import foreign vaccines, have also taken an economic toll on the country. U.S. officials have warned that Beijing's current virus response could trigger a global recession.

Wang told Newsweek that the ongoing economic turmoil is why the end to the current protests "will be different from 1989," even if troops are ordered to use force.

He explained that while China's economy grew at a rapid pace after Tiananmen Square, and thus established new legitimacy for the CCP, the country's current economy is already in decline.

Because the economy will prevent the CCP from finding "any way to alleviate people's hatred once they crack down," the decision to send in troops will "only lead to more intense confrontation and eventually the fall of the CCP."

The recent protests in China are not only a rare defiance against the CCP, but some demonstrators have gone as far as to call for the ousting of Xi.

Former diplomat Roger Garside, who twice served in the British Embassy in Beijing, said those calls are what make the current fury in China even more of a turning point than the one seen more than three decades ago.

"This has never happened before since the start of Communist Party rule in China in 1949. Even in 1989, people didn't explicitly call for the leader to 'step down' or for the Communist Party to do so," Garside told The Sun online.

"In making such explicitly political demands people have crossed a psychological and political red line," he said. "There will be no turning back."

Garside said while the Chinese police have shown restraint thus far, authorities will eventually be ordered by the government to use force.

He said although some officers will follow orders and possibly kill demonstrators, others may buck against the CCP, "and then either order will break down or Xi Jinping will be ousted in a coup."

Newsweek reached out to the CCP for comment.