A major controversy has erupted in East London after one of the walls of Brick Lane—a well-known spot for promoting street art—was covered with graffiti admiring the Chinese Communist Party ideology.
According to local media reports, Chinese students studying in the UK spray-painted the wall with 24 large red characters that read “prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness”—the core socialist values outlined by the CCP and President Xi Jinping.
It is reported that the incident took place over the weakened where the students live-streamed their actions on the popular Chinese lifestyle app Xiaohongshu.
The act drew severe condemnation from the netizens after the video spread to other social media platforms, and was swiftly covered with anti-Beijing slogans.
Anti-China slogans emerge
Guardian reported that the pro-Chinese slogans were soon painted over with references to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, with phrases seen like, “Free Taiwan”, “Free Tibet” and “Free Uyghurs”.
By Monday morning, the local council removed both the pro- and anti-China graffiti.
At the same time, the graffiti war was even more divisive online, with several rights groups and activists calling the move as “disgraceful” and “Orwellian doublespeak propaganda”.
But one of the students who did the artwork said in his Instagram post that the piece “didn’t have much political meaning”.
“In the name of freedom and democracy, it illustrates the cultural centre of the West, this is London’s freedom… Decolonise the false freedom of the West with the construction of socialism, let’s see what happens,” the post written by Wang Hanzheng, who also goes by the name Yi Que for his artworks, said.
“Needless to say what’s the situation on the other side,” he added.
The post was severally criticised, with one user commenting, “Obstructing freedom of speech is not a part of freedom of speech. The jargons you used cannot justify your brutal destruction of other people’s art.”
“Do you dare to go to Beijing and write democracy and freedom? If you dare, the home country you love will dare to arrest you,” another top comment wrote.
Wang Hanzheng later told the BBC that “there is no question” that the 24 characters are “not only goals of China, but common goals for the world”.
But those against the graffiti argued that artwork is nothing but part of “regime’s hate-filled propaganda”.
“I utterly condemn the #CCP thugs who defaced London’s Brick Lane with their regime’s vile hate-filled propaganda,” tweeted Benedict Rogers, head of rights group Hong Kong Watch.
In China, however, the artwork received praise in social media platform Weibo, calling the display a patriotic gesture. Some said they were proud of this kind of “cultural export”.
(With inputs from agencies)
