“Protests erupted across China on Saturday, including at universities and in Shanghai where hundreds chanted “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!” in an unprecedented show of defiance against the country’s stringent and increasingly costly zero-Covid policy.
A deadly fire at an apartment block in Urumqi, the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang, which killed 10 people and injured nine on Thursday has acted as a catalyst for searing public anger, as videos emerged that seemed to suggest lockdown measures delayed firefighters from reaching the victims.
On dozens of university campuses, students held gatherings or put up posters to grieve the dead from the Xinjiang fire and speak out against zero-Covid. In several cities, residents in locked-down neighborhoods tore down barriers and took to the streets, following mass anti-lockdown protests that swept Urumqi on Friday night.
Such widespread scenes of anger and defiance – some of which stretched well into Sunday – are exceptionally rare in China, where the ruling Communist Party ruthlessly cracks down on all expressions of dissent. But three years into the pandemic, many people have been pushed to the brink by the government’s incessant use of lockdowns, Covid tests and quarantines.
The ratcheting-up of restrictions in recent months, coupled with a series of heartbreaking deaths blamed on an over-zealous policing of the controls, has brought matters to a head.”
Comment: As long as the security forces stick with the CCP nothing much will change but if the Party’s grip on the instruments of oppression starts to slip … pl
Protests erupt across China in unprecedented challenge to Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy | CNN
Gordon Chang pointed out today that in 1949 the Nationalist government was militarily much stronger than the Communists but that their forces “melted away” because “they had lost the heart of the people.” Let us hope.
Emperor Xi will crackdown if these protests continue and spread. Similar to what Deng Xiaoping did in response to student protests.
Where does that lead to this time? We’ll have to see if the Chinese people don’t fear CCP security forces any longer and if widescale killing of protesters galvanize the rest of the population.
Covidianism had nothing to do with the pandemic but everything to do with authoritarian control. We have let the covidians off the hook in the US and even today there’s no independent investigation into the origins of the virus. A covidian authoritarian in the state of Victoria in Australia was even re-elected. Many in the West want an authoritarian state to control their lives.
I concur. The “longarch of history” is not headed to the individual and liberty but totalitarianism. The basic relationship b/t humans is ruler and ruled, master and slave. P. Henry notwithstanding humans will always give up freedom if they can replace it w/security. What can be more secure than a slave’s life. No thought, no challenge, no surprises; just obey. What’s the expression going round … peeple are sheeple. Sickening.
“Many in the West want an authoritarian state to control their lives.”
Far too true. Freedom entails an assumption of a fair amount of personal risk and an even larger amount of personal responsibility for one’s life situation. Many if not most westerners are not willing to take on either condition. They’ll settle for Netflix & Chill, free abortions on demand, and regular government “stimulus” injected straight into their bank accounts, which they’re perfectly fine having the government monitor, because “I din do nuffin’ wrong. I got nuffin’ to hide.” Same thing with their communications, and virtually every other aspect of their lives.
Most of Chinese people have been forced to work like slaves during the big push to become the world’s factory. It has only been in the last year or two that the country declared its worst level of extreme poverty had been eliminated at last.
It makes my blood boil to think how the hard work of the Chinese people goes so unrewarded and their lives treated like they are nothing. The CCP is exerting more control not less as China becomes more prosperous.
Meanwhile the Chinese elite take their money and families to the First World where the air is clean, freedom is great and our legal systems protect their dirty money. I would kick all these parasites out. They deserve to live in the repressive country they exploit and live like all the other people.
Same things goes with Russia. We hate the sins of their elite too but we act as willing enablers in the West by allowing them to come here and spend their dirty stolen money and enjoy themselves and their assets in peace and security.
We back the wrong side by taking their money and letting them live here. One day future Chinese and Russians will ask the West why we let thieves spend and hide billions if not trillions in our countries and our descendants will have no good answers.
Inertia is not to be underestimated. The weather, for example. Roughly 85% of the time, at any instant, the most accurate answer to the question “what will the weather be tomorrow?” is – “pretty much the same as today.” Well, yes indeed. But then “F and L, wasn’t your house struck by lightning a few years ago, I hear it .. .” “No, no, that was a tornado, you confuse me with .. .” Well, luckily that is just one unfortunate incident rather localized, and just as your body repairs itself and heals so do societies, we are even said to use at most 10% of our brainpower at any time. Democratic, authoritarian or dictatorial, government breaks down if it loses its monopoly on the legal exercise of violence. My limited sense of the affairs in China is that that is not a threat at the present time. The great numbers of people in any advanced country today are not people accustomed or capable in the exercise of force. In fact if they were those countries would not be so advanced. Even if the police are lazy and don’t answer promptly and have a poor reputation as regards human rights, still most people greatly prefer to call on them rather than criminals, it isn’t even a question in fact.
Col Lang – sadly – you are correct that so long as the police (enforcers) are fully funded the people will have a very difficult time standing up to this regime.
I have seen several, diverse, news sources reporting on this recent round of protests – it is definitely not localized as some protests in the past have been – this one is spreading. The fire was in a multi dwelling apartment (though they look like skyscrapers to my eyes). It was an apartment under forced lockdown, with people sealed in, and this resulted in the fire burning, unchecked for hours. One report (unconfirmed) was that firefighters also died due to avenues of escape being blocked. I do not know the truth of that final statement as it is so difficult to confirm anything coming out of the CCP controlled China. Each true report that comes out represents another crack in the control of the CCP.
kj
I dunno if it is just about money.
Col Lang
agreed.
Money is only one part – this is a full house (so to speak) people’s money, property, jobs – everything tangible, and many things intangible have been subject to the whims of the CCP for so long that I do not see a clear solution –
The decoupling IS happening though – finally one piece of good news – after a nearly 4 year effort – the FCC ruled to ban Huawei (and other related CCP controlled tech interests) from being used in any federally controlled US interests.
https://twitter.com/JoshuaSteinman/status/1596370645088350209
KjHeart,
I think the fire was just the last straw. The nature of the lockdowns has been reported by western correspondents living in China to be all but intolerable. As an example, if just one person in an entire apartment building, no matter how big, gets everybody inside it locked down for months.
Xi is reported to be surprised by the demonstrations. Probably he has allowed himself to be become so isolated, so surrounded by people afraid to tell him things they think he doesn’t want to hear he has become out of touch. The nature of that state makes it so the only protests which can be conducted successfully must be big enough to overwhelm police ability to prosecute individuals and the people know it. Everybody appears to be participating. He would be wise to accept he’s made a mistake and ease the lockdowns before his police start shedding their uniforms and joining those crowds.
Mark Logan
This may, indeed, have been the last straw –
I listen to Miles Guo (Guo Wengu); although I find him very believable I also try to verify his information as much as I can.
Translated text from his latest getter video is reporting military/police action in response to these current protests.
I share the translated text so those here can do your own research.
***”2022.11.28 Dear comrades… The party has ordered the arrest of all the organizers, provocateurs and their families of Zhengzhou Foxconn’s rebellion… At present, about 60,000 special police forces have been deployed in Beijing, and a large number of tanks and armored vehicles will be transferred from the north to Beijing to implement piecemeal management… A state of emergency will be in three weeks … Comrades-in-arms must take care …”***
Tanks around Beijing (if this is indeed happening) is a long way from that high rise apartment fire. If true, it represents a much greater level of pressure on the people.
***I cannot get the video link to work at the moment – if I can get it to work I will add it in another reply. My source is Miles Guo on Gettr.
kj
Ok, I tend to see the glass half empty, its just me. BUT, it is not Boston ’75, Paris ’89, Taiping ’60, St Petersburgh ’17, nor Teheran more recently. It is China today and 1.6 bill. Chinese are not a strength. Disorganized, they are not even a mob. Against their dissatisfaction Xi can put 100 tanks and 100M troops quickly in motion. He knows who the protest leaders are w/facial recognition. Local police muscle can be put in motion at a moments call from the “Imperial Palace”. All the power of the state will obey him immediately. Is Xi in danger of losing the Mandate of Heaven? No, protestors are in danger of losing several thousand lives.
As a sometimes Libertarian, it upsets me to admit that the natural state of humanity is slavery and Xi is the most powerful slave holder in world history. No fire, no matter how terrible, will take him down. The Chinese are a huge mass of writhing humanity w/no direction other than that provided by Emperor Xi. This is truth.
The natural state of nature is chaos. War leaders arise from that chaos to implement order. Xi is a pudgy soft bitch and so is the CCP. Those who bring order keep it as long as it is maintained, see the Pharaohs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8bF7v-dt9A
Bill
sadly – I am only confident that the suffering of the people in China will continue.
Xi’s main rival in the CCP, Jiang Zemin, who came to power after Tiananmen Square protests has died. It is speculated that Xi may not have any public morning or memorials allowed as that is how the Tiananmen protest started. They announced his death on Nov 30th, at exactly 12:00 noon – who dies at exactly noon?
Apple has limited the AirDrop feature in their recent update to effect only phones in Mainland China – I only have a vague understanding of the effect of this nasty update – seems that apple phone users have to access every 10 minutes to circumvent the effects
Apple is so entangled with the CCP it is no surprise..
Huawei phones (of course) are deleting videos soon as they are uploaded. NO surprise there either… it is all very grim
kj
Justin Trudeau was not removed from his premiership due to the truckers’ protests, though it did generate an ‘inquiry’ into the Prime Minister’s conduct. Xi has lots more power than Justin. Meanwhile in Brazil massive protests againts the election results, not that it makes the news in the US.
Lots of Activity to Monitor…Resources to Tap…Planning to Do…From Brush Fires…to The Palaces…How has this Altered Much of the Strategic Planning…China and Taiwan.Biden know Anything…..??….What…Stay out of it….No Problem..?? Oh..The People are Celebrating The New Year…OK.
N.Korea and Japan..Keep Guessing….Resources…Ummm Nope…
…EU…Nato…Putin Power…Drain..So…Whats Next…The Potato Bins Empty..
Super Power Road Rage..On The Auto Bahn.To Hell…
I Cant Imagine The Drain on Every USA ICC Resource…Especially When The White House Has Turned Out The Lights/.
Fot
I Dont Think there has ever been A Time Like This ….For the USA…
N.E.W.S. Lots Smoke Signals….No One Can Read Them..
So They Fake it…Ribbit
JT