China’s 'toilet revolution': How activists are hiding messages of protest in public spaces

“Remove the national thief Xi Jinping, China shouldn’t have an emperor,” reads this sticker, stuck on a bus railing in October 2022. © Observers

When a lone protester hung up banners criticising the Chinese government just days before the 20th Communist Party Congress kicked off, he started a quiet but national revolution. Although the original activist’s whereabouts are now unknown, citizens have been spreading his message discreetly, from graffiti in public toilets to stickers on buses, to Airdrops of messages criticising the Chinese president.