TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As The 13th National People’s Congress of China prepares to remove presidential term limits from the state’s constitution, Chinese citizens throughout the country that are opposed to the measure are being silenced online as the party kicks their internet censorship into high gear.



However, Chinese students studying abroad in the Unites States and other countries are using the free speech afforded to them, to speak out against the power grab of President Xi Jinping and his cohorts in the Communist Party.



As the NPC nears the day of a vote on the measure, Chinese citizens abroad worried for the future of their country are protesting and raising awareness with a campaign entitled #NotMyPresident also using the slogans and hash tag #IDISAGREE (#我不同意).

According to CNA, the NPC is expected to vote March 11, and thereby formally abolish the term limits for the Chinese president.



Posters in support of the campaign have been popping up at campuses all over the United States, from University of San Diego, California, to New York University and Columbia University. CNA reports that the campaign’s posters have also appeared in Australia, Canada, and the UK.



(Image from Twitter @STOPXIJINPING)



Posters show a portrait of President Xi Jinping, with the writing #NotMyPresident or the Chinese 反對廢除任期限制 (En. Reject the abolition of term limits) covering his face. Other posters have “End Xi Jinping’s presidency once and for all” written beneath the hash tag.



The phrase “Not My President” was popularized as a protest slogan in the U.S. during the Bush administration before the age of twitter and hash tags by the punk band NOFX, and an iconic t-shirt printed by their record label, Fat Wreck Chords.



(Image from Fat Wreck Chords)



Now the protest slogan has gone international, with Chinese students using the phrase to speak on behalf of those in China who disagree and are having their voices stifled.



Many reports on the campaign note that such protests from Chinese students abroad are exceedingly rare. The students are taking a serious risk by participating in the campaign, because the Communist party keeps a heavy watch on the activities of Chinese students abroad through party informants.

The backlash from the students abroad is just one more indication that Chinese leadership may be making a serious mistake to follow through with the measure, since public support and party unity in China may quickly deteriorate following the passage of the autocratic measure.



The campaign can be followed at the twitter account @STOPXIJINPING.