{"id":13993,"date":"2025-09-02T21:51:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=13993"},"modified":"2025-09-02T21:59:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:59:56","slug":"der-mann-der-die-mauer-aus-licht-baute-und-den-staat-filmte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/der-mann-der-die-mauer-aus-licht-baute-und-den-staat-filmte\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Built the Wall of Light and Filmed the State"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a night that shone as brightly in Chongqing as rarely before - not because of the neon facades of the megacity, but because of a single projector. At 10 p.m., a few days before the big military parade in Beijing, giant letters appeared on a house wall in the middle of the university district: \"Only without the Communist Party can there be a new China.\" A few seconds later a second sentence flared up: \"No more lies, we want the truth. No more slavery, we want freedom.\" A message like a clap of thunder - in a city of 30 million people, in a country where any deviation from the party line is persecuted. The authorities needed almost an hour to find the source of the light. Finally five police officers stormed a hotel room, tore open the curtains, turned off the projector - and looked straight into a camera that was aimed at them. On the table lay a handwritten letter: \"Even if you are beneficiaries of the system today, one day you will inevitably become victims in this land. So please treat the people with kindness.\" A few hours later the video of the raid went online and spread like wildfire. For the first time the surveillance state itself had become the object of surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Dear friends!<\/strong>
I do not know who you are, but I know that you also have mothers, fathers, spouses and friends. That is why I am writing you these lines. First I want to make clear that I have no criminal intent and do not want to harm anyone. I only chose this path because I can no longer remain silent. Please do not be cruel to the people living in this country. Please do not harm innocent citizens. You too will one day grow old, and if this country continues to be ruled in this way, neither you nor your children will be spared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People have the right to speak the truth, they have the right to strive for freedom. If all voices are silenced, the country becomes a prison. I ask you to show a little leniency, to not make yourselves into perpetrators. Be vigilant and remember: today it may seem like duty to you, but tomorrow it may affect you yourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone who loves this country should treat it with kindness. I hope that one day you will look back and be proud that you chose to do the right thing.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Signature, date August 16, 2025)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The man behind this staging is named Qi Hong. He had left China with his wife and daughters nine days earlier and from a safe distance in the United Kingdom activated the projector, recorded the police operation and edited it together. \"My only wish was to express myself,\" he said later. \"The party installs cameras to watch us. I thought I could use the same method to watch them.\" The video was more than a protest - it was a parable about a country that is watched by about 700 million surveillance cameras, by facial recognition software, big data profiles, drones and a social credit system that registers even the smallest deviations. Qi reversed the logic, and millions watched. Within four days the clips reached over 18 million views on Chinese-language platforms. \"Qi Hong tricked the police, outsmarted the state machinery - and they could hardly do anything about it,\" said blogger Li Ying, who spread the videos. \"It was a blow against the myth of total control.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n