The Power of Protests
Recent protests in China are part of a long tradition of student activism, but results are often lacklustre.
Scandals associated with China’s Zero-Covid policy, in particular the tragedy of the Ürümqi residential block fire, triggered a series of protests in early December 2022. What started as silent tributes to the ten people who died in the Ürümqi fire developed into protests against the ruling Communist Party. Apart from advocating the lifting of lockdowns, the demonstrators held blank sheets of paper to express their dissatisfaction towards the government’s media censorship and shouted for freedom and democracy. Most of the protesters were young adults, university students in particular.
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