A cross China, rare mass protests have grown against the country's strict zero-COVID pandemic protocols, with demonstrators in numerous cities taking to the streets to express their frustration.
While protests are not completely unheard of in China, the ones that do occur tend to be location- or issue-specific. State forces often respond quickly to nip these in the bud. It is not possible to know how many people have participated in this time.
At least 10 people died in an apartment fire in Urumqi, the capital of the northwestern Xinjiang region. The wave of public unrest was set off by suggestions that delayed emergency responders were to blame.
The zero-COVID approach pursued by the president has kept infections at bay in China, but the longer isolation and regulated mobility it entails has been blamed for several recent high-profile tragedies. The deaths in the Urumqi fire were not caused by COVID policies.
China has a zero- carbon policy.
As China watches the rest of the world open up, it becomes more and more frustrated with its own actions. The people who criticize the measures have been beaten. Protests against zero-COVID continue to take place in major cities, including the capital Beijing.
The opposition against the Chinese Communist Party and the testing requirements that became a big issue over the weekend have grown into a bigger problem. Protesters in Beijing carried blank white sheets of paper to symbolize their desire for votes. Protesters have called for the resignation of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.
Whether or not this discontent will challenge the ruling party's power remains to be seen, but "the fact that the current mass protests were even lodged in the repressive political atmosphere itself suggests that public discontent has reached the tipping level."
You need to know what is happening in China.
In at least eight major cities, there have been protests against zero-COVID.
Hundreds of people gathered for a candle light protest on Urumqi Road on Saturday evening to remember the victims of the fire. According to CNN, the crowd yelled "Don't want COVID test, want freedom!" as others held up banners decrying the strict Pandemic Protocols. Several people continued to show up at the protest site on Monday despite the fact that the demonstration had ended.
The Guardian reported that some 1,000 people gathered on a road in Beijing, holding up blank sheets of paper and singing, refusing to leave until the early hours of Monday.
The people gathered at universities to show their disapproval. There are videos on social media that claim to show students from the Communication University of China gathering for a protest similar to the one inShanghai. Protesters gathered in Beijing based on social media posts. The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests were a sore spot for universities, as they were student led.
The Tiananmen Square massacre changed China in a big way.
The protests haven't reached a national level yet. Observers agree that it is hard to predict how big the protests will get, but they think the protests are getting more organized. Jean Pierre Cabestan, a professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University, told Time that the protesters are starting to use the same message across demonstrations. He told Time that the anti-COVID protest has become more political.
Researchers from the Freedom House say there has been an increase in protests against zero-COVID. Kevin Slaten, the research lead of the group's China Dissent Monitor project, says that the fire in Urumqi became a "galvanizing" force for people in other cities as well. He says that the fire on Chinese social media sites was used to express anger and rage against the authorities.
Slaten says that wasn't happening with the past protests.
The transportation services were stopped because of the Urumqi lockdown. At one point, the cases went back to single digits. Hopes of a reopening were ended by the rise in infections by October.
It took nearly three hours for the fire to be put out. Users and residents took to social media to complain about the delayed emergency response. Protests broke out in other cities after officials apologized and promised to lift the restrictions in an orderly way.
China double down on acts of dissent. A common response to threats against the one-party rule is the suppression of online protest. The current wave of demonstrations have been removed from Chinese social media.
Chinese police used pepper-spraying and hit protesters in the city. Videos from the Agence France-Presse show police detaining people after the crowd dissipated. New barriers were put up where protests had broken out, and police cars were patrolling the streets more often.
Ed Lawrence, a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation, was arrested while covering the protests in China. Lawrence was mistreated by the police, according to the media organization.
Cabestan says that until recently most Chinese people were scared about the efficiency of the repressive organs of China. People are fed up with the current situation and think things have to change.
The government's response to the protests has been mostly subdued so far. There are security implications when you drag the name of a leader into the protests. Slaten told Time that people know that is a red line. If you touch those things,pression will increase.
The protests have resulted in the easing of COVID restrictions in Urumqi, Beijing and Guangzhou.
The Chinese government has been silent on the mass protests, only reinforcing the importance of keeping zero-COVID measures in place.
Experts say it is unlikely that the Chinese government will end its zero-COVID strategy soon.
China just relaxed some Pandemic Measures, but experts think it won't be going away anytime soon.
Slaten from Freedom House said that some concessions may be made if China is able to squash all discontent on the streets.
The central government may try to appease social unrest by punishing some local officials just like they did before, he says, referring to how local officials were forced to resign earlier this year.
The lack of natural immunity of China's citizens and questions over the efficacy of its domestically produced vaccines raise concerns that opening up will deal a huge blow to China.
There were more than 40,000 new infections in China on Monday.
The top decision maker may not want to see a rapid surge of cases if the government relaxes the policies to quell the protests.
We'd love to hear from you at letters@Time.com.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
