Zhou, a Tsinghua University student protester, was imprisoned by the Chinese government and sent to a re-education camp for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Commenting on the protests — a rare sight under Xi's rule — Zhou said the students and youths who are railing against the Chinese government are "going through a baptism of political activism" and becoming "masters of their own fate.".During the Tiananmen Square protests, hundreds of Chinese students were killed when the Chinese government rolled in tanks to suppress dissent.