3. “Spoke out and got caught four times inside the Great Firewall — I don’t think I’m courageous.”

Previously: Liu Feilong, a man from Guangdong, spoke for Hong Kong alone in the Netherlands. Even though no Hongkongers joining, he still believes in the power of protests and assemblies.

“I wouldn’t say I’m courageous. Many people have served eight or ten years of imprisonment and still keep going.” Liu Feilong was a locksmith in China. He could open countless physical locks, but could hardly escape the regime’s invisible one. It all began in 2007 when he picked up an anti-Communist leaflet. Wanting to understand its contents, he learned how to bypass the internet firewall. Once he recognised the truth outside the Firewall, there was no turning back.

He began to speak out occasionally within the Firewall. In 2011 when the Jasmine Revolution broke out in North Africa and the Middle East, he called on netizens to act correspondingly. Police showed up at his locksmith shop and told him to write a confession according to their instructions, or he’d be arrested. In 2013 when Guangdong was plagued by severe smog, he responded to an online appeal to protest by wearing an N95 mask — again, he was forced to write another confession. In 2017, he was targeted once more for selling T-shirts with subtly dissident messages.

“They told me they had enough on me to jail me for over three years.” In 2018, after Shanghai activist Dong Yaoqiong splashed ink on Xi Jinping’s portrait, one of Liu’s fellow villagers echoed the act by throwing mud at Xi’s portrait in Shaoqing and was arrested. Fearing the villager might die in custody, Liu expressed his support on Twitter (now called X). The police came again — this time they found many posts attacking the government and national leaders on his social media. He was officially arrested and warned that he could face more than three years in prison. His uncle, a civil servant, urged him to stop speaking out, saying, “We’re just a piece of dust — nothing we do matters.” But in fact, these acts of ink-splashing helped prevent a complete North Korea-style personality cult from taking root.

“Inviting me to a meal doesn’t interest me much, but I’ll be thrilled if you invite me to an assembly.” After years of torment following his arrest, Liu decided to leave. He chose a visa-free destination and applied for political asylum in the Netherlands during transit. There are over 70 refugee camps in the country; while awaiting the outcome of his asylum claim, Liu has lived in five different camps and the last one was near Dam Square. That’s when the idea of protesting at the square took root. After gaining refugee status, he spent weekends of every summer and autumn for two consecutive years protesting alone in the square for Hong Kong. He deeply regrets missing Hong Kong’s 2019 protest movement due to his imprisonment.

“When you’re alone, your mind can go to dark places — so you need to fill your time.” Liu now works as a cleaner at a gym in Amsterdam and fulfills integration obligations by learning Dutch and volunteering. He also helped organizing protests, such as designing flyers, arranging logistics, filming, displaying messages, and submiting articles. His full schedule reflects both his commitment to the cause and a conscious strategy. In 2018 when caught, he was interrogated every day from morning and released in the evening — ten days of psychological torture before being formally arrested and detained for a month. When on bail, he had to call the state security police daily to report his whereabouts. He was eventually sentenced to 18 months of probation, forbidden from leaving the county, and required to report monthly to the judicial office for ideological reformation. His phone was also fitted with tracking software, allowing authorities to monitor him at any time. A single mistake could send him back to prison. These mental pressures left Liu severely traumatized. To this day, he relies on medication and therapy for panic disorder and anxiety.

“A Dutch comrade once told me: If you believe it’s right — just do it!” From his first act of speaking out behind the Firewall in 2011 until now, Liu Feilong’s flame has never gone out, despite all he’s endured physically and mentally. He sends a message to those still holding on — or thinking of giving up: keep doing what you believe in.

Story curated and illustrated by @WL.AandD

* Bonham Tree Aid provides monthly humanitarian aid of £380 to families of imprisoned protesters in need, helping relieve their burden. Since its establishment in October 2021, it has helped over 300 families and is currently supporting 112, with another 112 families on the waiting list in urgent need of assistance.

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