President Xi Jinping in his third term in office is showing a flexibility in covid management that is more a tactical measure to ensure stability than a genuine concern for the feelings of the people of China. This approach is being witnessed in the small relaxations made in the zero-covid policy in the face of widespread protests across China against the zero-Covid policy. The relaxation of rules, which include allowing infected people with mild or no symptoms to quarantine at home and dropping testing for people travelling within the country, are the strongest sign yet that China is responding to the people’s angst. Protests broke out in Shanghai and other big cities as well as university campusesagainst the relentless pandemic controls, in a major test for the leadership of President Xi Jinping.Open defiance is rare in China, especially directed at the ruling Communist Party. This is a sign that the Chinese people are moving from choosing to remain quiet to selective defiance.
The People’s Daily, Communist Party’s mouthpiece, vowed in a front-page commentary to “unwaveringly” stick with the existing controls. In remarks that appeared aimed at dispelling doubts about the government’s stand and dissatisfaction, it again claimed that China had scored a victory in controlling the pandemic and called on party cadres at all levels to “resolutely overcome misunderstandings”, slackness and “war weariness”. During an inspection trip, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan urged (25 November 2022) Chongqing authorities to “try their best to contain the Covid-19 outbreak” and return life back to normal “as quickly as possible”. This is despite the widespread protests and public anger in many parts of the China a month after Xi Jinping secured a third term as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.
The protests were sparked by a deadly residential fire in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang on 24 November 2022, which killed ten and injured nine. The tragedy led to the immediate expression of outrage and widespread anger on social media as many believed Covid restrictions had prevented the victims from escaping.Protests against zero-covid had been occurring for some months now, but an uptick since September2022 was noticed. The fire in Urumqi became a “galvanizing” force for people in other cities and this led to a spate of protests.A day after the incident, hundreds of angry residents took to Urumqi’s streets demanding an end to the lockdown that has barred four million residents from leaving their homes for over hundred days. It was in response to the Urumqi protests that authorities had announced lifting of coronavirus restrictions “in phases”, but these assurances failed to stop protests spreading to the country’s most affluent cities and among young students, underlining the public impatience with the state’s handling of the pandemic.
In Beijing and elsewhere, residents confronted local authorities on the streets over restrictive measures and repeated Covid tests. One video posted online showed the residents of Beijing marching around an open-air car park shouting, “End the lockdown!” The largest protest (27 November 2022) occurred in Shanghai, China’s most populous city and financial hub, where about 300 residents gathered at Middle Wulumuqi Road – which borrows its name from Urumqi. In memory of the Xinjiang victims, they carried flowers, candles and signs reading “Urumqi, November 24, those who died rest in peace” and shouting “Lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China”. Police set up barriers and sealed off intersections in Anfu and Wuyuan roads, but more people gathered. They sang China’s national anthem and “The Internationale” and shouted slogans such as “People’s police are for the people”, “Release the detained” and “Long live the people”.
Witnesses said that some were taken away by police as the protest was broken up, but detainees were not necessarily those who had shouted slogans. Still, about 500 people, mostly in their twenties, gathered at the intersection of Changshu and Wuyuan roads in the evening, with about ten holding up white paper and slogans to protest the zero-Covid policy. “We did nothing wrong and we were just here to express our own opinion,” said one woman who led the crowd to sing the national anthem. “They do not even give us freedom of speech. Our voices should be heard.” Significantly, it is the students of China who have taken it upon themselves to show solidarity by conducting small vigils and protests. Such protests have been reported held at universities in Beijing, Xian, Nanjing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, and other cities.
According to reports and videos posted on Twitter and other social media sites, a few hundred students gathered at Tsinghua University, Xi Jinping’s alma mater, chanting “Democracy, the rule of law and freedom of expression”. Peking University students also protested, painting slogans on building walls including, “We want freedom, not lockdowns” and “Dynamic zero-Covid is a lie” – all while singing “The Internationale” in front of a group of uniformed security guards. The slogans painted by students were subsequently removed by university authorities and when students returned, they held another round of protest. Another video showed hundreds of students at Communication University of China, Nanjing holding up sheets of white paper and chanting “Long live the people, may the dead rest in peace”, at a vigil for the victims of the Xinjiang fire. When students refused to disperse at the requests of teachers, a university official could be heard warning that “one day you will pay for what you did today”.
In recent weeks, protests have also erupted in Guangdong, Zhengzhou, Lhasa, and other cities, with participants asking for an end to prolonged lockdowns and Covid tests. Residents in Lanzhou smashed testing booths and Covid staff tents, complaining about being put under lockdown even though no one had tested positive, Reuters reported. While Beijing moved to ease public discontent with a series of new rules early this month, such as shortening quarantine times for inbound travellers, there is little sign that the central government will loosen its zero-Covid policy.
Just days after China relaxed some zero-Covid measures, infection numbers in the current outbreak hit a new high of 40,052, with 36,304 yet to show symptoms. Total infections in China have surpassed the peak for the massive spring outbreak in Shanghai, driven by the Omicron variant and prompting months of lockdown. About 600 people died of the disease out of 650,0000 infected in that March to May wave, according to a paper published in the online journal China CDC Weekly in September. China seems to be the hardest hit by the covid pandemic and while infections are seemingly mild, the State’s response to the pandemic is more a function of regime stability than a response to a health security crisis. That is the tragedy of the China!