Amidst the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases in China, despite its zero Covid policy, citizens have begun to protest against the government, and these protests seem to be growing serious with time. A sociologist professor at the Johns Hopkins University in the US stated that, the unrest from the people in China, is a “dire situation” for President Xi.
Professor Ho-fung Hung said that, while the widespread protests were nothing new to the Chinese, these protests represented the initial serious test of President Xi’s absolute rule, after some protestors explicitly called for the President to step down.
He explained that President Xi put himself in this bad position over the last two years, after he implemented the zero Covid policy, with no end of the virus in sight. The policy which displeasured majority of the citizens in China, according to Prof. Ho has, especially sucked the patience of many young people dry, the middle class, workers and even the elite were not an exception.
Prof. Ho mentioned that, the recent protest at a Foxconn factory in the city of Zhengzhou and an out break of fire at an apartment on Uruqmi have been the spark that seems to have pushed protests further to the streets of China, accompanied by full disapproval and displeasure from the people.
He stated that how the Chinese government was going to resolve this issue was going to have lasting impacts on Chinese politics and the economy in the upcoming years.
China’s Covid Protests Extends To Bigger Cities
The people of the Republic of China, have been protesting against President Xi’s no zero policy and these protests erupted just last week, The protests have now extended to the big cities in China, and citizens have proceeded to respond to the attempts of the policemen to control them with sarcasm.
A resident from the city of Shanghai told the media that he has never seen a protest of this kind in Shangahai before. Thousands of people went out into the streets with their placards and posters over the weekend to protest and this has been one of the most shocking protests to citizens, due to the large number of people who participated.
An observer of the protest, Frank Tsai who organizes public lectures in China, told the media that, he was surprised at how large the numbers kept on growing during the protest. “I haven’t seen any protests of this scale in Shanghai in the entire 15 years that I have lived here,” he said.
Frank disclosed that over the past two or three decades, there has been tens of thousands of minor protests about things such as labor rights and land grabs, however he added that very few people have targeted the central government and nothing has really targeted the regime before.
Meanwhile, on the Monday morning of the 28th of November 2022, police officers have put up blue barriers on the roads in Shanghai where the protest took place over the weekend, and the streets appear to be quieter. There was only normal traffic activity and a heavy presence of the police at Wulumiqi Middle Road, where the barriers have been put up.
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