Mass protests in China

Uproar erupted in a couple of months back over two posters on Sitong Bridge in Haidian district, northwest of Beijing. Mainly it was a protest against the Chinese government's strict Covid policy. It spread wildly on social media. One of the posters contained, “We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdown and control. We want dignity, not lies!'' Another poster mentioned the Chinese president as a dictator. However, it is not known who had pasted the two posters. Media claimed that a person was arrested in that case. Officially, the Chinese administration has not opened its mouth about any poster or arrest.

A famous dialogue of Mao Zedong was - A spark is enough to start a fire. It is not yet clear whether the devastating high-rise fire that killed ten people and injured nine in Ürümqi (capital of Xinjiang province) will spark a wildfire. However, it is certain that this incident has introduced the largest mass protest in China which the country has not seen in many years. On the eve of the fire, mass protests began in other major Chinese cities, including Shanghai and university campuses, against continued epidemic control. This protest has now become a major test against China's newly elected all-powerful General Secretary Xi Jinping and his zero-Covid policy.

Since the bloody suppression of the Tiananmen Square movement in 1989 the country has witnessed several isolated protests. But most of these protests were for compensation of pay or land or against corrupt officials which could easily be handled by removing lower-ranking officials or allowing different concessions. However, nobody tried to challenge the political system then. In particular, open disobedience against the central government and ruling party is rare in China. But the continuous and spontaneous protest in different cities recently is certainly different.

"We don't want Covid test” or "We want freedom" – chanting such slogans the protesters expressed their anger against health authorities and control over normal movement of people in different cities. In view of this officials relaxed Covid restrictions at different places. Ban was lifted almost overnight in Guangzhou and Chongqing. Perhaps this is the first time that the Chinese public has made a combined effort to force the administration to change its course and retreat to formulate a national policy. More security forces were deployed in various cities thereafter.

At the early stages of epidemic there was good reason to adopt such policies to reduce the spread of virus. Mass testing in various places, city-wide lockdowns and quarantine arrangements in makeshift hospitals were proved effective especially against mismanagement in America and Britain. Even Xi's biggest opponents were convinced by his policies. According to data from Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Research Centre in June, 2022, number of death per 100,000 was only 1 in China against 300 in the US. But since the outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron this stubborn approach turned ineffective to reduce the spread of virus.

Already Covid situation has taken diverse turns. According to Bloomberg News of 3rd January bodies pile up, patients are being treated on floor in Chinese hospital. Funeral workers say that the whole system is paralysed. Public notices at Longhua explained that the crematorium had received more than 500 corpses on weekend day, roughly five times more than it normally handled.

According to an Al Jazeera report, several cities in China are struggling badly, hospitals and crematoriums are overflowing after government suddenly dismantled its zero-Covid regime in December, 2022. Beijing has admitted that the magnitude of outbreak has become impossible to track following the end of mandatory mass testing. As reported by The Economic Times Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have imposed either a negative Covid test report or testing upon arrival from China. Japan is also doing it.

Beijing abruptly began dismantling its zero-Covid containment policy of lockdowns and mass testing, three years after the coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan. It is now being considered disastrous for the country's economy, emptying treasury of local administration and fueling massive anger against the central government. Moreover, the discontent comes at a time when China's economy is trying to revive itself from its worst period in forty years. Centre’s zero- Covid policy has already devastated the country's retail, entertainment and tourism sectors. In addition to weakening commercial investment, property crisis worsened and such policy affected foreign investment as well. Youth unemployment in urban areas has touched nearly 20% further fueling the movement. As a result, these protests have raised questions over the competence of the ruling party and its strong economic management capabilities. Growing distrust and dissatisfaction of people over the policies of the party has increased the crisis of public confidence upon the government.

Leaving this policy and allowing the epidemic to increase would have created more problems. If the lockdown were lifted in Beijing, so many people were to be hospitalised that would collapse the entire medical system. Although China's official vaccination rate is high, it is quite low among the elderly. Around 40% of 80+ people have not yet received booster dose. The only effective way to deal with this situation was to import western vaccines or to produce vaccine at home and encourage people, especially the elderly, to be vaccinated.

Naturally, the dual challenges of Covid situation and mass movement have put China in a difficult position. Now if vaccine is imported, government will have to accept that the vaccine they developed has failed. Besides, if he gives open space to the agitators, their audacity will increase. Again, if they are forcibly restrained, the protests may intensify.

Maximum experts say that despite popular demands the recent protests are not similar to that in Tiananmen Square. The 1989 demand was for political reform but this demand was for lifting restrictions so that people could return to their normal lives.

It now depends on how Xi Jinping wants to handle the current situation. Will he try to control the situation with practical sense and restraint or with stubbornness and violence? In his first speech since the protests began, Xi told the EU envoy that the students were frustrated by the three-year lockdown. Hopefully, such a conciliatory voice will be heard from China's all-powerful man in the coming days and he will handle the whole issue peacefully.

The writer is a former Commissioner of Taxes. He can be contacted at chinmayprasunbiswas@yahoo.com