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The impressive images of demonstrators across the country raise expectations of a democratic uprising. According to experts, the political leadership in Beijing has not yet had to fear the protests.
The Chinese government’s draconian zero-Covid policy has turned society into a powder keg, it seems. Pictures of protests went around the world over the weekend. It all started peacefully and quietly after ten people died in a house fire in the western Chinese city of Ürümqi.
Rumors quickly made the rounds that the fire brigade had not been on the spot in time due to the tough corona measures.
From the economic metropolis of Shanghai, via the capital Beijing, to Guangzhou: from the Tibetan capital Lhasa, to Wuhan, via Chengdu, Chonqqing, to Nanjing: Similar images emerged everywhere. Recordings from Shanghai showed participants chanting, “Down with the Communist Party!” and “Down with Xi Jinping!” International news agencies report many arrests.
Various concerns are behind the protests
This coordination gives the protests a “new quality”, according to Ralph Weber from the Europa Institute at the University of Basel in an interview with Radio SRF. For some time now, it seems that some demonstrators are no longer just about resisting the tough corona measures. Instead, the blank white sheets they hold up have become symbols. The demonstrators are expressing their displeasure with the censorship in the country.
The universities seem to play a central role. Crowds gathered on the campus of the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing over the weekend. This is not only President Xi’s alma mater, but was also a hotbed of resistance when the biggest protests in recent Chinese history took place: the summer of 1989.
Anna Marti from the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Taiwan also says that the explosive force of the current protests should not be underestimated. “In quiet times, most people hold back criticism. What makes the protests so special is that there are many who are taking to the streets.”
Protests are not part of a movement
But how broadly supported is the resistance in public? According to Marti, giving an exact answer to this question is almost impossible. However, it is probably a mistake to assume that the resentment is limited to students and the younger generation. “Some of the videos also show middle-aged people, some of whom make spirited speeches,” says the China expert.
The majority of the demonstrators are probably not concerned with a system change.
Protests are basically nothing new in China, according to Ralph Weber from the University of Basel. Almost every day there are smaller gatherings in the huge country with its 1.4 billion inhabitants, most of which are directed against the local authorities. The fact that the demonstrators in different regions are now referring to each other and criticizing the central government represents a new “political quality” of the protest.
But it is also clear that in modern China under Xi Jinping there are de facto no organized political forces outside of the Communist Party. And according to Weber, the president, who was recently elected to a third term by the Politburo, is more firmly in his chair than ever before.
The China expert therefore currently sees no reason to assume a political conflagration. “There is currently no coordination, no political movement behind the protests that can support it.”
Legend:
Participants in a protest in Beijing (11/27/22).
Keystone/EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
Anna Marti in Taipei also warns against locating a broadly anchored desire to overthrow within the population behind the protests: “The majority of the demonstrators probably simply want the status quo ante Corona back. It’s not about a system change.”