Starting this thread to see how the China street protests develop. A China-watcher friend thinks this might go far. Possibly even the potential to become another Tiananmen ? With the same result ? Or will it all fizzle out before catching fire ? Anyway, keep watching and let's see what happens.

5 minute read November 27, 202212:40 PM GMT+1Last Updated 28 min ago
Protests in Shanghai and Beijing as anger over China's COVID curbs mounts
By Casey Hall
Josh Horwitz and Martin Quin Pollard
Wave of civil disobedience unprecedented under Xi Jinping
Protesters hold vigils in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities
Anger over Urumqi factory fire and COVID curbs


SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Crowds of demonstrators in Shanghai shouted and held up blank sheets of papers early on Sunday evening, as protests flared in China against heavy COVID-19 curbs following a deadly fire in the country's far west sparked widespread anger.

The wave of civil disobedience, which has included protests in cities including Beijing and Urumqi, where the fire occurred, is unprecedented in mainland China since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

In Shanghai, China's most populous city, residents had gathered on Saturday night at Wulumuqi Road - which is named after Urumqi - for a candlelight vigil that turned into a protest in the early hours of Sunday.

As a large group of police looked on, the crowd held up blank sheets of paper as a protest symbol against censorship. Later on, they shouted, "lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!", according to a video circulated on social media.

Later, a large group chanted "Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping", according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the country's leadership.

Reuters could not independently verify the footage.

Later on Sunday, police kept a heavy presence on Wulumuqi Road and cordoned off surrounding streets, making an arrest that triggered protests from onlookers, according to unverified videos seen by Reuters.

By evening, hundreds of people had gathered again near one of the cordons, some holding blank sheets of paper.

"I am here because of the fire accident in Urumqi. I am here for freedom. Winter is coming. We need our freedom," one protestor told Reuters.

At Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, dozens of people held a peaceful protest against COVID restrictions during which they sang the national anthem, according to images and videos posted on social media.

In one video, which Reuters was unable to verify, a Tsinghua university student called on a cheering crowd to speak out. "If we don’t dare to speak out because we are scared of being smeared, our people will be disappointed in us. As a Tsinghua university student, I will regret it for all my life."

One student who saw the Tsinghua protest described to Reuters feeling taken aback by the protest at one China's most elite universities, and Xi's alma mater.

"People there were very passionate, the sight of it was impressive," the student said, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.

Thursday's fire that killed 10 people in a high-rise building in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, saw crowds there take to the street on Friday evening, chanting "End the lockdown!" and pumping their fists in the air, according to unverified videos on social media.

Many internet users believe that residents were not able to escape in time because the building was partially locked down, which city officials denied. In Urumqi, a city of 4 million, some people have been locked down for as long as 100 days.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/sha ... 022-11-27/

Depressed, powerless, angry: why frustration at China’s zero-Covid is spilling over
Verna Yu
Sun 27 Nov 2022 10.19 GM
Victoria Li* has experienced several lockdowns since Covid emerged in China almost three years ago. Being a prisoner in her own home in Beijing made her feel depressed, powerless and angry.

“Being stuck at home with my door sealed, I felt unmotivated to do anything,” she said. “I didn’t want to work, I didn’t want to study. Sometimes, I crept into my bed and cried,” said the lawyer, who is in her 20s.
Even when she was not in lockdown, the draconian restrictions upended her normal life.

After a colleague tested positive, Li was deemed a close contact and lost her green health code for a month, meaning she was barred from public places. “I wasn’t able to enter the markets or the shops. I couldn’t go to the office,” she said. “It affected my work too – business was bad and my boss became bad tempered.” Longing for a normal life, Li has recently applied to emigrate to Canada.

As Beijing’s iron-fisted “dynamic zero-Covid” policy prepares to enter its third year, Li is one of millions across China who have reached the end of their patience. As the numbers of daily cases hit an all-time high, many began to question the heavy price they have paid for a goal that is impossible to achieve.

On Wednesday, the national health commission reported 31,444 new locally transmitted cases, the highest daily figure since the coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Although China’s case numbers are low compared with global figures, the authorities have insisted on a “war of annihilation” against the virus. As China reported the first Covid deaths in six months last week, a fresh series of lockdowns has been imposed across the country.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... e-in-cases

Some good clips and interesting input here.

I hope they succeed. I need to sell some land.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Sun Nov 27, 2022 9:40 pm Let's not forget that these rules are main barrier stopping the tens of thousands of mainlanders who were taking vacations here from leaving the motherland. You can't have it both ways.

I think we can, at the same time, be against the Chinese gangsters who were permitted to relocate to SHV, but still support Chinese people who are protesting in the mainland. It's the CCP that puts the protesters and the gangsters in the same basket.
Anyway, as far as China goes, we are just cheering from the sidelines, for whatever team. Interesting times as they say.

Maybe the vaccines against the virus from the PRC aren’t so effective compared to western vaccines. Maybe if the restrictions are lifted, the worry is that PRC health care systems get overwhelmed.

I haven’t heard of new formulations of the China vaxxes, but Pfizer and others have already come out with theirs.