This English version may have been machine-generated from the Chinese original and may not convey the original meaning accurately.
On the evening of October 17, 2026, the China Democratic Party held a rally in New York's Times Square and issued the "Joint Political Statement of the China Democratic Party National Committee on World Food Day and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty." Participants raised their fists and chanted slogans, demanding an end to one-party dictatorship and the establishment of constitutional democracy. The statement's theme was: To eliminate hunger and poverty, their root cause—the autocratic system—must be ended.
Why the Rally Was Held on This Day
The statement said that yesterday and today were World Food Day and the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, respectively. It was signed by Wang Juntao, chairman of the National Committee of the China Democratic Party, and read aloud at the rally by spokesperson Hou Gaiying. She said that the speakers were standing at that moment in the brilliantly lit Times Square, while their hearts remained concerned for their fellow Chinese across the ocean who were still struggling in poverty.
The organizers chose these two international observances to respond to the Chinese authorities' claim that absolute poverty had already been eradicated. The statement argued that such political proclamations could neither change the reality of extreme poverty nor alter the hunger in the Daliang Mountains.
At the Rally: From the Opening to the Statement
The rally opened with chief coordinator Wang Yongbo leading chants. The crowd shouted, "Sovereignty belongs to the people" and "Everyone is equal." Host Liu Yao then delivered the opening remarks and relayed this year's United Nations theme, which in essence was that everyone should enjoy dignity on the basis of security and prosperity.
Poverty is a public insult to human dignity and a brutal violation of basic human rights.
—— Host Liu Yao
The host said that the China Democratic Party was holding this rally to explain to the world the true nature of poverty in China: It is not natural deprivation, but a systemic human rights crisis caused by privilege monopolies, unequal opportunities, and unequal power. She cited ordinary families drained by high housing prices, low-income workers lacking social security, the urban-rural divide created by the household registration system, and people deprived of a voice in public decision-making. She said that without the protection of political rights, people could only become impoverished under the exploitation of the system. She also said that the rally was both an expression of solidarity with disadvantaged groups suffering around the world and a way to speak out for the 1.4 billion Chinese people who have been silenced, deprived, and discriminated against under authoritarian rule.
Hou Gaiying then read the joint political statement. The statement first pointed out the gap between official claims and reality:
Xi Jinping has announced that China has eliminated absolute poverty and hunger, but political proclamations cannot eliminate real extreme poverty or the struggles with hunger in the Daliang Mountains.
—— Hou Gaiying (spokesperson, reading the statement)
The statement described ordinary people's circumstances point by point: elderly rural residents who, despite declining health and strength, still had to work the fields to earn enough for a meal; migrant workers who built skyscrapers but could not afford to give their children equal access to education in the cities; food-delivery riders unable to withstand a single spell of unemployment or a serious illness; families struggling to breathe under the weight of medical expenses and housing debt; and children who lost fair opportunities for development simply because they were born in impoverished regions.
When examining the causes, the statement pointed out that the household registration system creates identity-based discrimination, the land system restricts farmers' property rights, education policies create unequal opportunities, and the privileges of state-owned enterprises and administrative monopolies squeeze ordinary people's room for development. The statement also said that one-party dictatorship not only obstructs efforts to solve poverty, but even obstructs people's understanding of poverty: The media cannot freely disclose the facts, citizens find it difficult to exercise effective oversight, people living in poverty lack the right to express their demands, officials are busy manufacturing poverty-alleviation achievements, while poor people continue to worry about tomorrow. The spokesperson relayed the statement's question: What qualifications does a regime that does not allow people to freely voice their suffering have to declare that the suffering has ended?
The statement concluded by putting forward three propositions: Freedom, so that everyone has the opportunity to create wealth; democracy, so that the people decide how public resources are allocated; and the rule of law, so that labor, property, and human dignity receive equal protection.
The Chinese people do not need a dictator who announces that poverty has been eradicated; they need a democratic system that enables the people to freely escape poverty.
—— Hou Gaiying (spokesperson, reading the statement)
Chants Throughout the Rally
After the statement was read, the rally moved into about four minutes of collective chanting. The host and chant leaders took the lead, and participants raised their fists and followed along. The chants focused on ending the Chinese Communist Party's tyranny, ending one-party dictatorship, bringing the Communist Party down, bringing Xi Jinping down, and proclaiming long live freedom and long live democracy. Some also shouted "Free China" and "Human Rights China" in English. One round of chants directly addressed the theme of the rally:
Eliminate hunger and poverty.
—— Chants at the rally
The chants also included calls for constitutional democracy, repeated again and again:
Establish constitutional democracy. Establish constitutional democracy.
—— Chants at the rally
The rally concluded amid calls of "We want freedom."
Conclusion
This rally did not evade one question: Has poverty truly been eradicated, or has it merely been forbidden from being discussed? In the view expressed by the statement, eliminating poverty cannot depend on the charity of a dictator; it requires guaranteeing the people's rights. The statement ended with these words: Let people living in poverty have dignity, and let workers have hope.