What happened to HasanAbi while livestreaming from Tiananmen Square, China? Situation explored

HasanAbi had a run-in with the police in Tiananmen Square (Images via HasanAbi/Twitch)
HasanAbi had a run-in with the police in Tiananmen Square (Images via HasanAbi/Twitch)

Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker recently had an on-stream interaction with Chinese authorities while IRL broadcasting in Tiananmen Square. For context, on November 10, 2025, Piker visited Tiananmen Square to witness the flag hoisting ceremony, which is a daily military ritual conducted by the People’s Liberation Army’s honor guard.

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While waiting for the sun to rise, HasanAbi's cameraman pulled out a meme on his phone which featured a photo of the streamer's face photoshopped onto a picture of General Mao. Moments after the meme was displayed to the stream's viewers, blue lights flashed in the background as local police officers appeared for a brief second on camera, asking for the lens to be covered.

Piker's cameraman obliged, and the screen cut to black. A translator present at the scene conveyed the policeman's message:

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"He wants to see the photo. ('Oh, I didn't take a photo,' said HasanAbi's cameraman)."
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Via the translator, the policeman then asked:

"Have you recorded anything? ('No... I was pulling the camera out, but I didn't do anything yet,' said the cameraman)."

After the police mentioned that they wanted to see the "background" of the live stream, the broadcast disconnected for about five minutes. Once back on air, Piker caught his viewers up to speed and spoke about why he was potentially checked:

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"When they see someone like myself wearing a bright yellow jacket like this, dancing around, they probably think I'm here to make jokes..."

HasanAbi speaks on his interaction with Chinese authorities while at Tiananmen Square

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Once the sun rose and HasanAbi made it back to his hotel room, he switched to a desktop setup and revisited his interaction with the police:

"The Flag Raising Ceremony... is not a thing white people normally go to... I assume that they are probably extra attentive... about people coming to do some f**k sh*t."

He then referenced the General Mao meme, suggesting that the cops thought that Piker's crew was making fun of the ceremony:

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"He thought he saw something on the phone... he thought that we were making a mockery... They didn't realize that we love China."

Overall, the streamer mentioned that the situation was de-escalated after a bit of talking. He also went on to compliment the Chinese officials, claiming the West has much worse to offer:

"As far as cops that I've dealt with across the world... [Chinese police are] not even remotely up there. The further West you go, the worse cops get... America being the worst one."
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In a resurfaced one-minute clip, QTCinderella alleged that HasanAbi exhibited inappropriate behaviour, and Ludwig Ahgren denounced these actions as "crass."

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Edited by Vishnu Menon
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