Thread by @rachel_cheung1

For years, Program Think #編程隨想, an anonymous blogger pushed back against CCP's rule one post at a time. Some compared him to the mysterious vigilante in V for Vendetta. Others called him “the tank man of the digital age,” a lone figure facing down China’s security apparatus.

He achieved legendary status among Chinese bloggers for his persistence. Most remarkably, unlike most critics, he wrote from within China, where he took care to hide his digital footprint and eluded authorities for over a decade.

Among his ~700 posts was a guide on how to bypass China's firewall. But when readers, concerned for his safety, urged him to 人肉翻牆/leave the country. He cited a line from V for Vendetta: “If all those who dare to resist run away, they would win.”

Then two years ago, he went silent. To evade the government’s extensive surveillance, he had kept his identity secret, so much so that when he abruptly stopped updating his blog, Twitter and Github account, no one knew where or how to find him, but people didn't forget about him.

Little was known about his identity and whereabouts, until February, when Ruan Xiaohuan, a cybersecurity expert in Shanghai was sentenced to seven years in jail for “inciting subversion of state power” over his blog entries. His court verdict circulated online.

Chinese authorities kept a tight lid on the case, but when Ruan's wife scaled the firewall and came upon Program Think's blog, she connected the dots and spoke up: “we will do what we can to make sure the second trial is fair and supervision by public opinion is one of the ways.”

By cross-checking different leaked databases a year ago, a social media user was able to trace Program Think’s public Gmail account to a corporate email once used by Ruan. “It’s too difficult for one man to stand against an entire system. Few have such courage,” they said.

.@rockngo, who followed Program Think's blog since 2009, admired him for his intellectual capacity and moral courage, describing him as “a symbol of resistance.” “The more people know about him, what he did and what he signifies, the safer it is for him.”
vice.com/en/article/z3m…