Assembly of Citizens

The Assembly of Citizens (AOC; ) is a Canada-based organization advocating for democracy in China. Headquartered in Toronto, it consists primarily of young people and international students with backgrounds in mainland China. The organization developed in 2020 following an event commemorating Chinese physician Li Wenliang and was registered as a Canadian nonprofit organization in May 2022. Its activities have included commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, demonstrations in support of the White Paper protests, and advocacy concerning alleged political intimidation of the Chinese diaspora in Canada.

History

The organization traces its origins to February 2020, after Li Wenliang died from COVID-19. Ruohui Yang organized a memorial and protest in Toronto, through which he met a group of Chinese international students with similar views. The Globe and Mail connected the formation of the Assembly of Citizens to the Li memorial. According to the organization, it spent the next two years participating in events opposing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party and supporting political movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan before formally registering as a nonprofit in May 2022.

Following the Beijing Sitong Bridge protest in October 2022, Chinese students at universities outside China displayed posters opposing Xi Jinping and China's zero-COVID policy. Yang, acting as an organizer with the Assembly of Citizens, helped students at the University of Toronto prepare for a campus demonstration on 21 October and advised participants about identity protection and possible confrontations.

During the White Paper protests in November and December 2022, the organization participated in solidarity demonstrations across Canada. On Human Rights Day, coordinated events took place in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton; Radio Free Asia identified Yang as one of the organizers. In its coverage of the demonstrations and concerns about foreign interference, Global News described the Assembly of Citizens as a registered youth nonprofit and reported its call for the Canadian government to provide greater protection to diaspora communities.

In 2023, the organization continued to participate in Tiananmen commemorations. In May, it co-hosted an intergenerational discussion in Toronto with the Federation for a Democratic China and the Democratic Party of China. In June, an Assembly of Citizens commemoration at the University of Toronto was attended mainly by young students from mainland China.

On 4 June 2024, Yang testified as the organization's founder at a hearing of the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China marking the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. He discussed harassment and threats that members said they had experienced in Canada.

Aims and activities

The Assembly of Citizens describes itself as opposed to authoritarianism represented by the Chinese Communist Party and identifies service, exploration, and resistance as its three principal aims. It says that it promotes cooperation and civic education among overseas Chinese, engagement with local civil society, and nonviolent action for political and social change. CBC News has described it as a Canada-based organization supporting democracy in China. Its public activities have included demonstrations, commemorative events, cooperation with other advocacy groups, and representations to government bodies.

The organization has also joined events with groups representing Hong Kong, Uyghur, Tibetan, and Taiwanese communities in Canada. For example, it co-organized the 2024 Toronto commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown with the Toronto Association for Democracy in China and the Federation for a Democratic China.

Safety of members and allegations of transnational repression

The safety of members has been a recurring subject of media coverage because some participants have family members living in China. The Globe and Mail reported that some Chinese students involved in anti-government activities concealed their identities because they feared retaliation against themselves or their relatives in China.

In 2024, CBC News interviewed Yang and other members of the organization. They said that they had experienced online abuse, death threats, infiltration of social-media groups, and pressure exerted through relatives in China. The report also included a response from the Chinese embassy in Canada, which rejected allegations that the Chinese government had harassed overseas students or their families as “smear and vilification”.

See also

• Chinese democracy movement
• Chinese dissidents
• Transnational repression by China