From China to Iran, shoutouts for freedom

As a protest slogan, it’s hardly new. Yet in three of the world’s most oppressed societies – China, Iran, and Russia – you can now find protesters demanding “freedom,” not just personal liberty but a civic freedom that allows individual choice in shaping governance along shared values.

The most brazen example came Thursday on a Beijing bridge. Just days before the Chinese Communist Party was set to rubber-stamp another five-year term for autocrat Xi Jinping, a man unfurled two banners over a busy highway. The hand-written banners called for “dignity,...