The movement sees grassroots protesters writing messages criticizing their government on banknotes to spread their message in an underground and widespread manner.

The Chinese banknote protests target the government, criticizing their harassment of the spiritual Falun Gong sect, whose followers must be actively sought out by police. The messages on the banknotes- typically written by Falun Gong supporters and followers – are what The Observers call “innovative ways to communicate their message without giving themselves away.”

Pictures on The Observers website show several photos of marked bills with message like “Falun Gong is good, the world knows it, the world condemns the [Communist Party of China]” and “Believe that freedom is not a crime, Falun Gong makes people better.”

Labeled “The Green Movement” in Iran because the messages were written in predominately green ink, the subtle protests there opposed the reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in what many deemed a “rigged election” at the hands of the government.

As a way to combat this movement, the Iranian government deemed any graffitied banknote invalid and ordered citizens to exchange their “green” banknotes for “clean notes” by the beginning of 2010.

So far, the Communist Party of China (CCP) has issued no response to the pro-Falun Gong movement on banknotes though their history with the movement in the past has not been passive.

As a relatively new spiritual movement in China (emerging in 1992) the Chinese Communist Party banned Falun Gong in 1999 and deemed it an “evil cult” because its followers largely focused on meditative practices in public and opposed traditional Chinese spirituality.

SOURCES:
The Observers: “The Banknote Revolt Hits China”
“Falun Gong”
Global Paper Security: “Iranian’s Shift Protest Movement To Banknotes”
Global Paper Security: “Iran Deems ‘Green’ Banknotes Invalid”

Since the beginning of the Iranian Green Movement (the ink on the banknotes is often green, and the colour symbolizes the official colour of the opposition), the government has been struggling to deal with the rise of this covert protest movement.

At the beginning of December, The Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran deemed the Green Movement a success saying, “the Central Bank of Iran has tried to take these banknotes out of circulation, but there are just too many of them.”

The Central Bank is now telling people to exchange their graffitied banknotes for “clean” notes by January 8, 2010. After this period, any banknote with writing on it will be considered invalid.

The slogans on the banknotes oppose the recent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in what many, including Iranian reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, have deemed a “rigged election” at the hands of the government.

Since June, banknotes have been in circulation with messages like “In this country, only the government has freedom of speech. Don’t believe anything you hear,” “Khanmenei the dictator, Ahmadinejad the puppet” and “Death to the Dictator.”

The Green Movement has also reverted to other subtle protest tactics like spray painting on walls and using a rarely observed religious holiday for a three-day strike.

SOURCES:
Bloodwars Magazine: “Iran Bans Graffiti on Banknotes
Banknote News: “Iran to Withdraw Notes with Opposition Slogans.”
Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran: “Iranian banknotes uprising”