2022 COVID-19 protests in China

2022 COVID-19 protests in China
Part of protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and democracy movements in China
Southwest Jiaotong University students mourning the victims of the fire in Ürümqi, holding blank sheets of paper and singing "The Internationale" and "March of the Volunteers"
Date2 November – 5 December 2022[1]
(1 month and 3 days)
Location
Mainland China and Hong Kong
(with solidarity protests abroad)
Caused by
MethodsProtests, protest songs, demonstrations, riots, civil unrest, student activism, internet activism
Resulted inAbandonment of the zero-COVID policy on 7 December 2022[5]
  • Some protesters detained
  • Images and videos of protests censored by the Chinese government
Parties
Protesters
Map
Cities in China where protests against COVID-19 lockdowns occurred

A series of protests against COVID-19 lockdowns began in mainland China in November 2022.[6][4][7][8][9] Colloquially referred to as the White Paper Protests (Chinese: 白纸抗议; pinyin: Bái zhǐ kàngyì) or the A4 Revolution (Chinese: 白纸革命; pinyin: Bái zhǐ gémìng),[10][11] the demonstrations started in response to measures taken by the Chinese government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, including implementing a zero-COVID policy. Discontent had grown since the beginning of the pandemic towards the policy, which confined many people to their homes without work and left some unable to purchase or receive daily necessities.[12][13]

The demonstrations had been preceded by the Beijing Sitong Bridge protest on 13 October, wherein pro-democracy banners were displayed by an unnamed individual and later seized by local authorities. The incident was subsequently censored by state media and led to a widespread crackdown behind the Great Firewall.[14] Further small-scale protests inspired by the Sitong Bridge incident ensued in early November, before widespread civil unrest erupted following a 24 November building fire in Ürümqi that killed ten people, three months into a lockdown in Xinjiang.[15] Protesters across the nation demanded the end of the government's zero-COVID policy and lockdowns.[7]

The subjects in protest evolved throughout the course of the unrest, ranging from discontent with the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its general secretary Xi Jinping,[7][16] to inhumane working conditions brought on by the lockdowns, and human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang.[17] The police had largely allowed such rallies to proceed, although officers had reportedly arrested several protesters in Shanghai.[18] There had also been reports of protesters being beaten and showered with pepper spray before detainment.[18][19][20][21] By early December, China pivoted away from many of its previous COVID restrictions by reducing testing, reducing lockdowns, and allowing people with mild infections to quarantine at home, effectively abandoning the zero-COVID policy.[22]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Guardian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Wang, Vivian (28 November 2022). "A Protest? A Vigil? In Beijing, Anxious Crowds Are Unsure How Far to Go". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  3. ^ Wong, Tessa (27 November 2022). "China Covid: Protests continue in major cities across the country". BBC. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b Kwon, Jake (23 November 2022). "Workers at the world's largest iPhone factory in China clash with police, videos show". CNN. Beijing and Hong Kong. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  5. ^ Bradsher, Keith; Che, Chang; Chien, Amy Chang (7 December 2022). "China Eases 'Zero Covid' Restrictions in Victory for Protesters". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  6. ^ "從中國南京傳媒學院開始，學生發起「白紙革命」，上海等中國7大城市大學生發起「白紙革命」 全球最大文具商全面下架A4白紙".
  7. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ He, Laura (29 November 2022). "'White paper' protests: China's top stationery supplier says it's still selling A4 sheets". CNN. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  11. ^ Jackson, Lauren (30 November 2022). "China's Dramatic Dissent". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Xinjiang residents complain of hunger after 40-day COVID lockdown". Al Jazeera English. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  13. ^ Jiang, Steven (19 April 2022). "Hunger and anger in Shanghai's unending lockdown nightmare". CNN. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Anti-Xi protest spreads in China and worldwide as Chinese leader begins third term". CNN. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Over the past week, as party elites gathered in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to extoll Xi and his policies at the 20th Party Congress, anti-Xi slogans echoing the Sitong Bridge banners have popped up in a growing number of Chinese cities and hundreds of universities worldwide.
  15. ^ Kang, Dake (26 November 2022). "10 killed in apartment fire in northwest China's Xinjiang". Associated Press. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN1127 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Wright, Rebecca; Watson, Ivan; Erdem, Enwer (1 December 2022). "'I hold China accountable': Uyghur families demand answers over fire that triggered protests". Hong Kong: CNN. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  18. ^ a b "China Covid: Protests continue in major cities across the country". BBC News. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference crowd_angered was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Lau, Stuart (29 November 2022). "Rip up China trip plans, EU chief is told as protests grow". Politico Europe. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  22. ^ Huang, Kathy; Han, Mengyu (14 December 2022). "Did China's Street Protests End Harsh COVID Policies?". Council on Foreign Relations.