Dissident blogger sets fire to Chinese passport, calls on Taiwanese to cherish their democratic freedom
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/08
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Zhou Shuguang burns Chinese passport. (CNA photo)
Zhou Shuguang (周曙光), 40, a native of Ningxiang County in Hunan Province, has lived in Hualien's Rueisui Township (瑞穗) with his Taiwanese wife for nine years, becoming a naturalized Taiwan citizen in 2018. Zhou was originally an information technology professor, but later became known for his citizen journalism, being a blogger and covering China's censorship of the press.
Zhou, who goes by the handle Zuola (佐拉), used his blog to publish stories about government land seizures, oppression of ethnic minorities and repression of freedom of speech. Starting in 2007, he started gaining attention for his "citizen reports," and he soon became known as the "father of citizen journalism in China."
Because Zhou had to relinquish his Chinese citizenship to become a Taiwanese citizen, his Chinese passport has been rendered useless. Rather than simply discarding it, Zhou decided to burn it as a form of performance art to make a point about Taiwan's democracy. [FULL STORY]
