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By Bidisha Saha: After protests in more than twenty Chinese cities that began on November 25 following the Urumqi fire that charred 10 people to death, Beijing has loosened restrictions pertaining to the long-running zero-Covid policies that prohibited people from entering supermarkets and commercial buildings. Local authorities informed that people no longer require a negative Covid test report to enter public places, but they still need to provide test results to enter other venues, including schools, bars, nursing homes, gyms, etc.
Shanghai, China’s biggest metropolis was among the latest to relax Covid restrictions on public places. Similar easing can also be seen in the cities of Wuhan, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. Urumqi, the capital of Xianjiang region has opened supermarkets, hotels, cinemas, and gyms to people while Tibet has resumed public transport.
More recently, owing to the unrest situation, Apple accelerated its plan to move out of China and prepared to shift some of its production units to other countries. It also asked its suppliers to plan more assembling of the product elsewhere in Asia, including Vietnam and India. This came after the recent turmoil at China’s Foxconn iPhone manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou, as reported by Reuters.
Brief Background
Despite enough evidence that the tough epidemic protocols hammered economic progress and smashed people’s livelihood, Xi Jinping was firm on his resolute that there would be no swerving from his signature “zero-Covid” policy. But then came extensive acts of public defiance that were sparked by the frustrations over pandemic restrictions but also called for the rulers' resignation.
Silently, the government abandoned the regressive protocols and dumped the “zero-Covid” goal. Officials are now beginning to change the public narrative on social media saying that the new strains of the virus are not that deadly. The new plan is apparently to slow the spread of the virus. The trajectory seems obvious.
But the recent wave of unprecedented protests in China has still not subsided. Over the last weekend, there have been 68 dissent incidents across 31 cities in China as reported by Nathan Ruser, an OSINT researcher. From Beijing, Wuhan, Hebei and Guangzhou, Chengdu to Shanghai, protests are ongoing across China. Students, residents, and workers are still protesting on the streets to challenge the restrictions that had them cooped up inside their homes longer than needed.
Even though mass protests have subsided, there’s a low-key buzz of defiance that has persisted in local areas specific to communities demanding the “unsealing” of their precinct. Over the next few days, at least 9 new protests in 8 cities of China were tracked by China Protests Monitor.
Tracking Recent Protest Incidents in China
Date: 2022/12/03 Location: Qingpu District, Shanghai
On 3rd December, people clashed with police officials in white uniforms in Qingpu District, Shanghai while protesting against the detention of some people even after they tested negative for Covid.
Date: 2022/12/04 Location: Wuhan
Students gathered near the administrative building of Wuhan University to question authorities on returning homes, and resuming offline classes and exams. Around 100 students engaged in talks with government officials to negotiate and reach a conclusion on strict epidemic containment measures. The crowd slowly dispersed.
The students of Wuhan University protested against lockdown measures.
Date: 2022/12/04 Location: Fujian
In Wangzhuang Residential District of Jin'An, Fuzhou in Fujian, China, residents clashed with white guards when they were informed that the building would be sealed.
Date: 2022/12/04 Location: Guangzhou
In Guangzhou, police were reportedly arresting the protesters, putting fences around open spaces and sealing the exits of subway stations.
Date: 2022/12/04 Location: Jin'An, Fujian
Just like in Guangzhou and Fuzhou, Chixing Xinyuan Community residents protested against the restrictions.
Date: 2022/12/05 Location: Nanjing
On the evening of December 5, some students from Nanjing University of Technology were found to be Covid positive. Students gathered to express their dissatisfaction, yelling slogans and demanding to return home voluntarily.
Date: 2022/12/06 Location: Hefei
On Monday evening, the students of Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China protested after the administration changed its Covid policy at midnight and forced students to leave.
Date: 2022/12/07 Location: Jingmen, Hubei
On the morning of December 7 in Jingmen City taxi drivers protested by gathering with their cabs outside the gas station. The industry was monopolized by Jingmen Languang Gas Co., Ltd. which has also led to an increase in the price of gas in the whole city, causing taxi drivers to surround and occupy gas stations.
Date : 2022/12/10 Location: Chengdu, Sichuan
Around 300 students of West China School of Clinical Medicine, Sichuan University marched on campus and protested as they were pressurized with high-intensity of work and no leaves. They shouted songs of “Equal pay for equal work, no double standards”.
Date : 2022/12/10 Location: Chongqing, Yuzhong District
Students of Chongqing Medical University shouted slogans at the gate of the campus and protested as students in the new campus were free to return home while the old campus did not release students for a long time. Students expressed their dissatisfaction.
Recent Chinese Protest Overseas
Date: 2022/11/30 Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Over 100 students held solidarity protests in front of John Havard statue in Massachusetts holding blank papers to mirror Chinese protests. Flowers were also laid at the foot of the statue for the victims of Urumqi incident.
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Date: 2022/12/04 Location: Rome, Italy
On December 4, a group of Chinese students studying in Italy held a rally outside the Colosseum, a landmark building in Rome, to protest against Xi Jinping's zero-Covid policy and to support the protests that have taken place across China over the past week. This group of international students held blank papers to express their support for the "blank paper revolution".
Date: 2022/12/04 Location: Hong Kong
In Hong Kong's Victoria Park, a some international students from mainland China went to Victoria Park to hold a white paper demonstration on the 4th December, striving for the end of the zero-clearing policy.
Date: 2022/12/06 Location: Apple’s Headquaters, California
On Monday, two young Chinese activists started a hunger strike in front of Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California to express their solidarity with Chinese protestors of Blank Paper revolution and urging the company to remove restrictions on AirDrop in China.
Date 2022/12/06 Location: Washington, DC
Demonstrators in Washington, DC said that the current relaxation of control measures in China shows that the protests have achieved certain results. The protestors put forward many demands such as allowing public mourning for the victims of the epidemic, ending the zero-clearing policy, and guaranteeing freedom of speech and information.
Date 2022/12/06 Location: Paris, France
Chinese international students gathered at Paris Human Rights Square to show their support for the "Blank Paper Revolution".
Since the pro-democracy crusade of 1989 in Tiananmen Square, China has not witnessed such massive acts of public disobedience. The persistence of resistance in the recent time, among a small yet significant section of Chinese people, perhaps signals that they are now less afraid of challenging the apex leadership. The protests have awoken a tradition of dissent that was farsighted in the last decade under Xi Jinping’s rule.