- Frances Mao
- BBC reporter
image source,Getty Images
Young Chinese grew up in a country that cracked down on dissent and are now starting to speak up.
Over the weekend, a new generation emerged in China, many of whom took part in public protests for the first time in their lives.
They took to the streets to demand the lifting of the new corona zero epidemic prevention policy which has been implemented for nearly three years.
In Shanghai, protesters were initially silent. They had gathered to mourn the victims of an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Many people believe that it is the new corona epidemic prevention measures that prevent some people from escaping the fire.
They paid their respects in the presence of a heavy police presence. During the protest, they held up blank papers and placed bouquets of flowers, and remained silent throughout.
Then, some started shouting, “Freedom! We want freedom! Unlock!”
As the night darkened, more and more people became bolder and bolder. On Sunday at 3 am local time (19:00 GMT on Saturday), they shouted: “Xi Jinping, step down! Xi Jinping, step down!”
One attendee, in his early 20s, said he ran out into the street after hearing the crowd at home.
“I’ve seen many, many angry people online, but not a single person has taken to the streets to protest,” he told the BBC.
He brought a camera to record what he thought was a historic event. “I see many people: policemen, students, seniors, foreigners. They all have different opinions, but at least they can talk.”
“A rally like that is significant. I think it will be a fond memory for me.”
Urumqi fire sparks five days of protests against coronavirus lockdown in China
Screenshots of videos taken by residents
10 people were killed and 9 injured in an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang.
Videos on social media showed fire trucks being delayed by the COVID-19 prevention barrier, and local officials stressed at a press conference that one of the causes of the fatalities was “the weak ability of some residents to self-defense and self-rescue.” “. , sparking internet outrage in mainland China. Other videos showed people in Urumqi taking to the streets to confront police officers, tear down fences used for epidemic prevention, and shout for a release.
Reuters
Protests against the new corona epidemic prevention and control measures have appeared in Shanghai and other cities.
People in many cities took to the streets to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire. Hundreds of students from the Nanjing Institute of Communication held a demonstration on campus, holding up blank papers to protest the silence of the authorities. Similar protests have taken place at many universities across the country, including Tsinghua University and Fudan University.
On Urumqi Middle Road in Shanghai, people protested overnight, during which some people shouted slogans calling for Xi Jinping to step down.
BBC
BBC reporter Ed Lawrence was beaten and briefly detained by Chinese police as he filmed protesters in Shanghai.
Photos on social media showed the removal of street signs on Urumqi Middle Road in Shanghai.
NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images
On the same day, there were protests in Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu and other cities.
Barricades were erected on both sides of Urumqi Middle Road, and the police at the scene asked passers-by to take pictures to delete cell phone photos.
Louise Delmotte/Getty Images and Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
Louise Delmotte/Getty Images and Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
Students in Hong Kong, Taiwan, London and other places held solidarity rallies with China, including protests against the new corona epidemic prevention and control policy.
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A young woman in the crowd said she found it an exciting but fleeting moment. “I’ve never seen anything like it in China in my life,” she told the BBC.
“I feel like it’s a release. We’re finally able to come together – to say something we wish we could have said a long time ago.”
He said that the new corona zero epidemic prevention policy stole the best years of their lives. Many of his peers lost income and livelihoods, as well as educational and travel opportunities. Sometimes the lockdown lasts several months, they have to be separated from their families and have to delay or cancel some life plans.
They feel “angry, sad, helpless” – a state of purgatory.
Similar calls could be heard in many of the country’s major cities that weekend. At Tsinghua University in Beijing, students also gathered, inspired by the demonstrations they saw online.
A video that has now gone viral shows a girl speaking quickly and slightly coyly into a loudspeaker. Occasionally she would burst into tears as she spoke, but the crowd cheered her on. “Come on! Don’t be afraid!”, she would say.
“If we dare not speak out because we are afraid of being stigmatized, I think our people will be disappointed in us,” he said hoarsely. life.”
image source,Reuters
Students of Tsinghua University in China protest on November 27th.
Smart or naive?
For older viewers, such political demonstrations were a sight not seen in decades. It stirred up memories of Tiananmen Square in 1989, when the movement, also led by students, called for a freer China.
But some argue that the generation’s enthusiasm stems from a failure to understand past protests that ended in bloody repression.
“Youthful idealism – courage without the baggage of painful memories – has led young people to take to the streets to fight for their rights,” said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Others argue that this actually understates the protesters. Song Wendi, a political scientist at the Australian National University (ANU), said their youth didn’t seem commensurate with their knowledge of Chinese systems and rules.
He was amazed by their “clever strategy”. Today’s young protesters, he says, “are the most educated generation in China”.
“They know the red line. They try to push the line without crossing it,” he said.
Protesters in Shanghai chanted calling for Mr Xi to step down, but at nearly every other rallies, protesters toned down demands they feared would become overly politicized.
The blank sheet became the symbol they used, avoiding incriminating words or drawings. When the police told them to stop calling for an end to the reset policy, they responded with irony and moved on to chanting more tests and more restrictions.
“Look at how thoughtfully and preemptively they minimize any charges the Chinese government may bring against them,” Song Wendi said.
Protesters are also wary of voices subverting their demands.
In Beijing, when someone warned against “foreign forces,” they were loudly mocked by others: “Foreign forces, you mean Marx and Engels? Stalin? Lenin?”
The Communist Party of China defines Marxism as its guiding ideology.
image source,Reuters
Protests in Shanghai escalated into clashes and some were arrested.
Protesters in Beijing further asked, “Did foreign forces set fire to Xinjiang? Did foreign forces overturn the transfer truck in Guizhou?”
“Did a foreign power bring everyone here tonight?” shouted a man in the crowd. The crowd loudly responded, “No!”
“Liberal Nationalist”
Before the global pandemic of the new corona epidemic, the younger generation in China was generally satisfied with their prospects.
“I can’t travel the world and meet my family,” said the young man in Shanghai with a camera. He told the BBC that his mother, worried about cancer, stayed in Guangzhou alone. Local officials in Guangzhou lifted new corona restrictions in most areas on Wednesday (November 30).
“I really want to see her. I haven’t seen her for a long time now, I can’t touch her face and I haven’t eaten with her,” she said. “I hope this blocking policy can be lifted as soon as possible.”
The BBC has since learned he was arrested earlier in the day.
Many people who were interviewed by the BBC or appeared in online videos said they hoped for their country’s progress.
During the protests, the crowd sang China’s national anthem repeatedly, especially the refrain that called on people to stand up for their country: “Get up! Get up! Get up!”
Song Wendi said that the uniqueness of this generation is that they grew up in the era of China’s rise and have strong patriotic feelings.
He labeled many of them “liberal nationalists,” people who believe in the system so strongly that they demand accountability when it fails.
“Sentiment can go from pro-government to anti-establishment very quickly,” he said.
But there is still a collective desire to justify and legitimize their protests.
In a video from the Tsinghua campus, the crowd chanted “No one breaks the law here!” while the speaker expressed concern that the protests could be exploited by troublemakers.
“If we don’t get it under control, we lose,” said a male voice.
“We have no experience doing this… but we’ll find out over time.”
