"So much hope:" A Tiananmen leader on China's COVID protests

What he's saying: "I was in tears so many times the last few days. It's just so amazing," said Zhou, who now lives in the United States where he runs the nonprofit Humanitarian China.

• The COVID protesters are going through a similar emotional journey as those in 1989, Zhou said.
• It starts with "struggling with fear, but feeling this urge to do something," Zhou said. "And then you step out, and you realize there are more people like you, and that's very energizing."

On whether or not the protests will damage Chinese leader Xi Jinping's standing within the party:

• "I don't think it matters because he has absolute control," Zhou said.

• "This shows the advantage of a democracy. If we have bad leaders, there's a way to correct. ... Whereas in China, ... who is there to challenge him?"

What to watch: It's still early stages and thus impossible to know what the future of the current protests will be, but Zhou said people are already worrying about how the party will react.

• "This is a regime that has no regard for human life," he said. "There's no rule to guess what they would do."