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Rachel Armstrong
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Over the past few years, countries worldwide have dealt with Covid-19 and moved on after the severest strand. China, however, three years later, is still dealing with mass testing, quarantines, and snap lockdowns. On November 24, 2022, a fire broke out on the 15th floor of a building in Urumqi, the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang. At the time of the fire, residents were only allowed to leave their homes for short periods each day and the timing was controlled by authorities. Due to these restrictions, 10 people were killed in the fire and 9 others were injured before the fire was put out. Since then, protests in Shanghai, Beijing, and 14 other cities across China have sparked against the ruling Communist Party. Actions in the protests include shouting for the leader, Xi to “step down”, singing The Internationale, (a socialist anthem), shouting for political freedoms, and tearing down barriers. Although thousands have been involved, it is not clear the scale of impact the protests will have in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. Public protests are extremely rare in China because the Communist Party has tightened its grip on all aspects of life, which has wiped out much of the civil society in China. It is becoming increasingly clear that the public has run out of patience for covid policies, but leaders show no sign of changing anytime soon.
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