Amsterdam Vigil Commemorates Third Anniversary of Urumqi Fire, Demands Uyghur Independence and End to CCP Rule

 

Amsterdam, Netherlands – November 24, 2025 – On the evening of November 23, under cold rain and sleet in Amsterdam’s Dam Square, approximately ten activists held a solemn yet defiant vigil to commemorate the third anniversary of the 2022 Urumqi apartment fire and to call for the restoration of East Turkestan’s independence, the downfall of Xi Jinping, and the complete collapse of Communist Party rule.

The two-hour gathering (18:00–20:00) took place on the right side of Dam Square in front of the Royal Palace. Despite 5 °C temperatures and persistent precipitation that soaked the cobblestones, participants remained steadfast. The event had been formally registered with and approved by Amsterdam municipal authorities.

Organizer and Core Demands

Organized by Stichting Support Uyghurs and chaired by Abdurehim Gheni, the vigil was framed as a candlelight memorial for the victims of the November 24, 2022, fire in Urumqi’s Jixiangyuan residential compound. Participants unfurled a six-meter-long banner displaying photographs of some of the victims alongside the English inscription: “Never Forget the 44 Uyghurs Killed in Urumqi Fire – November 24, 2022, 19:49, Building 8, Jixiangyuan Residential Community, Tianshan District, Urumqi.”

Throughout the evening, the crowd repeatedly chanted: “Down with the Communist Party!” “Down with Xi Jinping!” “Dictator Xi Jinping!” “Fascist Xi Jinping!” “Terrorist Xi Jinping!” “We want freedom!” “Independent East Turkestan!” “Uyghurs have the right to a state!” “East Turkestan independence is justice!” “No lies, we want dignity!” “No leader, we want votes!” “Remove national traitor Xi Jinping!”

Speakers

The platform featured a diverse coalition of Uyghur and Chinese dissidents:

• Abdurehim Gheni (Chairman, Stichting Support Uyghurs)
• Kalbinur Sidik (Xinjiang re-education camp survivor and former teacher; spoke in Uyghur)
• Xing Songlin (Henan human-rights defender and alumnus of the same university as former Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo)
• Jiang Hong (Heilongjiang dissident)
• Yu Yang (Anhui dissident)
• Jiang Peikun (Cantonia independence activist and human-rights defender)
• Wei Zhijian (Kwangsi independence activist and overseas member of the China Democracy Party)
• Alerk Ablikim (GroenLinks candidate and Secretary of the Free Uyghur Association; son of imprisoned Uyghur poet Ablikim Hesen)
• Liu Feilong (founder, Voice Against Communism)

Speakers linked the Urumqi tragedy to ongoing Uyghur genocide, forced labor, cultural erasure, and the broader authoritarian control imposed by the CCP across China.

The vigil began with the East Turkestan national anthem “March of Redemption,” followed by moments of silence and fiery collective chanting.

Common slogans voiced collectively during the gathering included:

• “Down with the CCP!”

• “Down with Xi Jinping!”

• “We want freedom!”

• “Uyghurs have the right to establish a state!”

• “East Turkestan independence is justice!”

• “No more lies, we want dignity!”

• “No more leaders, we want votes!”

The atmosphere fluctuated between solemn remembrance and moments of heated, emotionally charged chanting.

Symbolic Climax

Between approximately 19:45 and 20:00, participants burned photographs of Xi Jinping and Chen Quanguo (labeled “Marxist-Leninist lackey Xi Jinping” and “Marxist-Leninist lackey Chen Quanguo”) along with the PRC national flag and the CCP party flag. As the images were consumed by flames, the crowd erupted with shouts of “Xi Jinping step down!”, “Communist Party step down!”, “Xi Jinping has gone to heaven!”, and “Chen Quanguo to hell!” Despite intensifying rain, the ceremony continued uninterrupted.

The event remained entirely peaceful. No police were present. Three individuals in black clothing, suspected of ties to the Chinese embassy or pro-CCP student organizations, filmed from a distance but did not intervene.

Passersby paused to photograph and film; several shouted words of support. No mainstream media were observed on site.

Background: The Urumqi Fire and the White Paper Revolution

On the night of November 24, 2022, a fire broke out in a locked-down high-rise in Urumqi. Welded-shut doors, barricaded stairwells, and blocked roads prevented escape and delayed rescue. Official Chinese sources reported 10 deaths, while overseas Uyghur organizations and eyewitness accounts insist the true toll was at least 44, predominantly Uyghur.

The tragedy ignited nationwide outrage over the zero-COVID policy’s brutality. Within days, mourners across China began holding silent vigils while raising blank A4 sheets—symbolizing everything they were forbidden to express. These “White Paper” protests rapidly escalated into the largest and most explicit anti-regime demonstrations in decades, with open calls in some cities for Xi Jinping and the CCP to step down. The unprecedented pressure forced Beijing to abandon most zero-COVID restrictions by early December 2022.

Three years on, the Urumqi fire remains an enduring emblem of both the human cost of totalitarian control and the momentary courage of a people who refused to remain silent.