Anti-CCP Activists Disrupt CCP's Lunar New Year Propaganda in Rotterdam, Exposing Violence and Infiltration

On February 28, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., at Tiendplein Square in Rotterdam's Chinatown, five anti-CCP activists rushed onto the stage just as Chinese Consul General Shen Bo was about to perform the traditional lion dance blessing ceremony. 

The activists held up a placard bearing Xi Jinping's photo marked "forever infamous," the CCP flag with an X through it, and a Uyghur rights flag, shouting slogans: "Down with the CCP! Down with Xi Jinping! Take down the CCP! Take down Xijinping!" Shen Bo appeared visibly embarrassed. Li Guannan, director of the Consulate General's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, stood backstage. The four to five security personnel beside him immediately rushed onto the stage and roughly dragged away the protesters, causing one activist, Hao Wangyong, to suffer a knee injury. Police arrived within two minutes and separated the conflicting parties.

The five courageous activists are Hao Wangyong (Gansu), Du Binghui, Wei Zhijian (Kwangsi), Liu Xiaobin (Hunan), and Yu Yang (Anhui). They remained on stage for approximately 15 seconds before being forcibly removed. Hao Wangyong subsequently sought medical examination and filed a police report.

A Pattern of Continuous CCP Propaganda Campaigns

This disruption is part of a larger pattern. Just two weeks earlier, on February 14, Consul General Shen Bo attended a similar event at The Hague City Hall, explicitly linking the Lunar New Year with "the Communist Party of China's unwavering goal"—exposing the true political agenda behind the so-called "cultural celebration." That event also witnessed violence: a Uyghur human rights advocate was attacked by pro-CCP leaders. The February 28 Rotterdam event, organized by the "Rotterdam China Festivals Foundation" and co-organized by the Chinese Cultural Center in The Hague, served as an official platform for the CCP to export nationalism and ideological propaganda to Europe.

Independent Verification by Dutch Media

The Dutch local media outlet RTV Rijnmond published a report on the same afternoon. Reporter Meike Schipper documented that at Tiendplein Square, "a few people rushed onto the stage, protesting against the Chinese Communist Party. Security personnel quickly intervened and removed them from the stage. After being removed, the protesters continued their demonstration at a distance." The independent report from mainstream Dutch media corroborates the facts of our action and demonstrates that independent journalism in democratic societies continues to document such events.

Continued Resistance and Widespread Awareness

Following the stage disruption, approximately a dozen participants held a continued assembly at Kruisplein Square, located about 500 meters away from the event. We distributed hundreds of bilingual Chinese-Dutch flyers and displayed a six-meter-long bilingual banner citing a warning from the Dutch intelligence agency AIVD's 2024 annual report: "Intelligence agencies use cover identities to suppress critical voices."

The banner specifically named nine CCP operatives and their tactics, categorized as "violence and surveillance," "infiltration and money," and "propaganda and brainwashing." The video footage of the disruption was recorded on-site and subsequently posted on social media. Our "Voice of Anti-CCP" account's video received over 210,000 views, demonstrating strong international interest in exposing CCP's overseas operations.

The United Front Network Exposed

Several key figures were directly involved in suppressing the peaceful protest, revealing the structure of the CCP's infiltration network in Europe:

Arjan Chan, chairman of the "Rotterdam China Festivals Foundation" and owner of the Wah Nam Hong supermarket chain, personally attempted to push the protesters off the stage and ordered security to "drag them down."

Xiong Guoxiu, dressed in red, directly participated in dragging the protesters. She currently serves as chairman of the Dutch Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Cultural Education Association and chairwoman of the European Chinese Overseas Chinese Women's Federation.

According to public records, Xiong Guoxiu maintains extremely close relations with the CCP's United Front Work Department. She is frequently invited back to China to exchange with various levels of the United Front Work Department, the Chinese Overseas Chinese Association, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and other CCP organs. She has been appointed as a counselor to Guangdong Province's Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau and has participated in "country conditions seminars" organized by the Central United Front Work Department's affiliated Huaqiao University. By leveraging her network of overseas Chinese organizations across Europe, she effectively serves as a civilian bridge and mouthpiece for the CCP government's infiltration efforts.

The Chinese Cultural Center in The Hague, which co-organized this propaganda event, is an official institution established and funded directly by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Although structurally separate from the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands, the two maintain intimate operational coordination, with the center's work directly under the embassy's unified leadership. This reveals that so-called "Lunar New Year celebrations" are components of a centrally coordinated CCP propaganda strategy targeting Europe.

The Voices of Resistance

Liu Xiaobin, a Christian dissident from Hunan, participated in the action because he recognized that cultural symbols controlled and exported by authoritarian government become tools of political manipulation rather than genuine cultural expression. He stated: "The problem is not culture itself, but how they use 'tradition' as a pretext to reshape servitude and eliminate independent thinking. This is cultural invasion."

Yu Yang from Anhui emphasized the need to "alert Dutch society to the CCP's political infiltration efforts" and "raise awareness about China's political system and human rights abuses." He declared: "We believe cultural exchange should be truly free, not serve as political propaganda for an authoritarian regime."

Hao Wangyong from Gansu, who suffered a knee injury in the attack, stated: "If maintaining 'rationality' means accepting falsehood and suppression without resistance, then such rationality is weakness. We must break free from spiritual enslavement."

Wei Zhijian from Guangxi participated because he had recently witnessed a series of violent government suppression campaigns in his homeland—from the forced demolition of the Longfu Temple to land disputes in Huada Village. He declared: "This action is for my fellow villagers and for all oppressed people. We will not remain silent."

Exposing the CCP's Soft Power and Hard Power Strategy

The CCP's use of Lunar New Year for overseas political propaganda has become a systematic strategy. Within the CCP's United Front system, overseas Chinese business leaders, official propaganda organizations, and government agents form an integrated control apparatus. The February 28 incident demonstrates how this system operates: the CCP presents a veneer of "cultural celebration" while simultaneously deploying violence and intimidation against those who challenge its narrative.

The coordinated participation of Shen Bo (official representative), Li Guannan (United Front operative), Xiong Guoxiu (overseas Chinese leader), and Arjan Chan (business proxy) in violently removing peaceful protesters reveals the multi-layered nature of the CCP's overseas control mechanisms. This is not spontaneous security response—it is orchestrated suppression.

A Test for Democratic Values in the Netherlands and Europe

This series of events presents a critical test for Dutch democratic institutions and European values. While the Netherlands permits the CCP to conduct cultural activities within its borders, the violent suppression of peaceful protesters by CCP-affiliated individuals has crossed legal and ethical lines. The timely intervention of Dutch police prevented further violence and protected our fundamental rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

The Dutch intelligence agency AIVD warned in its 2024 annual report about foreign entities using undercover identities to suppress critical voices. The February 28 incident is a textbook example of this warning coming to life—CCP officials, united front operatives, and their business proxies acted in coordination to violently suppress peaceful dissent.

European governments must confront a difficult question: Are these "cultural celebrations" genuine cultural exchange, or are they components of an organized political infiltration and population control strategy targeting overseas Chinese communities?

A Call to Awakening

We five activists come from different provinces—Gansu, Anhui, Guangxi, Hunan—but we found common purpose on the streets of Rotterdam. We are not professional activists or paid operatives. We are ordinary citizens who witnessed oppression and chose to speak out.

Though Hao Wangyong was injured and though we may face legal consequences or CCP retaliation, our actions have marked a turning point. The February 14 action in The Hague and the February 28 disruption in Rotterdam demonstrate that cracks are appearing in the CCP's seemingly impenetrable control over overseas Chinese communities.

Every act of resistance represents an awakening. Every voice raised against suppression is a challenge to authoritarian power. We are proving that overseas Chinese are not CCP proxies—we are independent persons committed to freedom, truth, and human dignity.

In democratic societies that respect freedom of speech and assembly, violence against peaceful protesters is unacceptable under any pretext. On February 28, Rotterdam ceased to be merely a platform for CCP propaganda. It became a symbol of the awakening of overseas Chinese consciousness and the unbreakable human spirit's resistance to tyranny.

We call on all people of conscience to recognize the CCP's infiltration efforts in your communities and to support the voices of those who dare to speak truth to power. Freedom is not negotiable. Democracy is not for sale.

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Voice of Anti-CCP remains committed to exposing the CCP's overseas infiltration, supporting victims of political persecution, and amplifying the voices of those fighting for freedom, human rights, and democracy. We will continue to challenge the CCP's propaganda machine, wherever and whenever it operates.