Zero-Covid Policy Protests

Over Thanksgiving, mass protests and demonstrations broke out across China as a result of the country’s new “Zero Covid Policy”. 

Due to increasing Covid cases as well as the first deaths in six months, the President of the People’s Republic of China had implemented strict lockdown measures. 

As of now, China has one of the toughest anti-Covid measures in the world. The city had been under lockdown for more than 100 days, and citizens were not allowed to leave their homes. With mass testing and isolation this high, citizens are having enough. The people of China have been protesting. 

So far, CNN has verified 23 demonstrations since last Saturday across 17 Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

These quickly turned violent as China attempted to suppress the uprising. On November 24th, deadly fire was used in Urumqi, the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang. The blaze killed at least 10 people and injured nine in an apartment building, leading to public fury after videos of the incident appeared to show lockdown measures had delayed firefighters from reaching the victims.

In Shanghai last Saturday, hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil on Urumqi Road, to mourn the fire victims. Many held up blank sheets of white paper (a symbolic protest for censorship) and chanted, “Need human rights, need freedom.”

The Chinese government did whatever it could do in order to silence these uprisings. They were the largest, most widespread protests since 1989 in Tiananmen Square.

It is unusual to see this kind of action from Chinese, some even targeted President Xi Jinping himself, shouting for more political freedom as well as even saying he should step down. 

These protests started as a hopeful uprising and would turn into a tragedy. After these protests swept the nation, several cities have taken some steps to ease their COVID restrictions. Some speculate that this “Zero-Covid Policy” may be coming to an end.