'River to the sea:' Chinese students express solidarity with Palestine

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - The global wave of pro-Palestine student demonstrations appears to have influenced their counterparts in China who are expressing solidarity with beleaguered Palestinians.

Visuals of pro-Palestine posturing were seen in many regions of China as millions of students sat for the annual college entrance test.

Such social media posts triggered tens of hundreds of likes and reposts.

According to the daily South China Morning Post, several videos posted online by university exam participants making wishes also “showed students voicing support for Palestine.”

However, many videos have since been deleted from the Chinese social media which faces high scrutiny from the state authorities.

A video on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, showed a student wearing the Palestinian flag in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

Two students in the eastern province of Jiangsu were seen wearing Palestinian and Chinese flags.

Similarly, in a freewheeling interview on the exam day, a student in the central province of Henan expressed his wish: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The river in the popular slogan refers to the Jordan River on the right, and the Mediterranean Sea on the left of the Palestinian territory which existed before Israel came into being in 1948.

Student demonstrations and encampments have been reported in major Western universities where the protesters have pressed for an end to the war in the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza, which is under constant bombing by Israel since Oct. 7.

China has persistently supported a cease-fire in Gaza while pressing for a two-state solution to the question of Palestine.

​​​​​​​This year, a record 13.42 million students from Friday until Monday sat for the college entrance test across China.

Known locally as “gaokao,” the test results determine students’ university admissions which eventually shape their future.