Status: 06.12.2022 12:56
Angelika Messner is a professor of sinology and has been director of the China Center CAU Kiel for ten years. You spoke to NDR Schleswig-Holstein about the protests in China and explained why the country is at an impasse in the fight against the corona.
end of November Hundreds of people took to the streets in Chinato demonstrate against the strict zero-Covid policy of the government under President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile they were some of the Corona rules have relaxed, but there are large regional differences. A tension between the center and the provinces also plays a role, explains Angelika Messner, professor and director of the China Center at the Christian-Albrechts-University (CAU) in Kiel. She doesn’t believe the protests will lead to political change.
Ms Messner, some of the Corona rules have been lifted, but there are some regional differences. What makes easing in China so difficult?
Prof. Dr. Angelika Messner: There are often misunderstandings when implementing easing. There is a lot of uncertainty and actually everyone is afraid of doing something wrong. In China, the state’s duty of care to provide health care has top priority. This has to do with the position of the elders. They are particularly vulnerable and mostly unvaccinated. If all measures were abandoned, it is estimated that millions of people would die. If that were to happen, there would surely be massive protests from other neighborhoods. Better to wait a few more weeks. But if something like the Urumqi fire* happens during this period, it is simply a dilemma, it is actually a dead end.
*Editor’s note: According to the authorities, ten people died in the fire in a skyscraper in the city of Urumqi. Residents reported that the corona measures had hindered and delayed the work of the fire brigade.
Have the protests since late November changed anything? Is there a way out of this impasse?
Angelika Messner herself lived and studied in China, and today is a professor of Sinology at the CAU in Kiel.
messner: What changes is that the rules are constantly adjusted. In this regard, it was good that the government said: we are adapting and we also need to ensure that these rules are understood. You can already see individual cities planning to relax. Six months ago I was asked about the zero Covid strategy. I thought at the time that if it was possible to classify Covid-19 as influenza, then other rules might apply. But I don’t think it will all happen so quickly. It’s a matter of time. If individual cities now dare to ease tensions, then perhaps tempers could calm down again and trust could be rebuilt.
Why did such protests take place in China?
messner: First I have to correct one thing: there have always been protests in China. At the provincial level, for example, mayors or governors have been accused of wrongdoing and have taken to the streets. The protests weren’t all that small. Above all, the ongoing movements have attracted more media attention. However, there is a qualitative difference: now we are addressing the central government. This is something that hasn’t happened before.
What was the trigger for these kinds of protests?
messner: A concrete trigger was the fire in Urumqi, in which several people lost their lives. But several factors came together. Naturally there was frustration among the population because the rules were very strict. Economic difficulties also play a role. To take to the streets are mainly young people between 20 and 30 years. Students feel cheated of their possibilities because they cannot leave campus and go abroad as easily. Small business owners are on the brink of existence. There is also a lot of hype on the internet about the possible abuse of corona tests. People got a positive result even though they hadn’t been tested. Naturally, this causes a loss of trust. A number of circumstances simply came together. Also because there are still inequalities between regions when it comes to Corona rules. In China there has always been tension between the center and the provinces, where the rules are often interpreted arbitrarily. There’s a dynamic in there that’s not easy to control. Corona made it even clearer and more visible.
Meanwhile, the protests have subsided, even after a heavy police presence. Also, now there are relaxations. Do you expect the wave of protests to increase again?
messner: No. The majority of the population clearly supports the government. The measures are criticized, but not the political system. Nobody wants this landslide, not even young people. Of course there is talk, especially among young people who study and see, for example on YouTube, that masks are no longer mandatory in Europe. However, 90 percent of the population does not make this speech because they are used to measures. They reflect and say: we have to change some measures, but the government is not being attacked as a government. Furthermore, the measures are justified by the fact that the elderly should be protected. This approach works across the board, even among young people. In China, the protection of the elderly is a very particular point, no one would ever want to risk endangering their grandparents. This is a causal link that works.
Friederike Schneider conducted the interview.
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