The wave of civil disobedience in mainland China is unprecedented in the past 30 years, and some say such demonstrations are reminiscent of the mass protests for freedom and democracy in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Now, however, the reasons are slightly different, although, again, freedom is worth noting. People want to return to normal life, but Xi Jinping’s government continues to impose a strict measure of covid zero, imprisoning millions, practically overnight.
The last straw for the population is the Football World Cup. Millions of Chinese people have taken to the streets in Doha, Qatar, watching the World Cup, protesting nearly three years of government crackdowns and President Xi Jinping. He was re-elected as the leader of the Communist Party of China.
More recently, in Xinjiang, the deaths of ten people under house arrest have made people impatient with the overzealousness of the Chinese rulers. The victims were in the burning building, unable to get out into the street, and died of smoke inhalation.
Waves of protests have erupted in major Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou, and are growing in proportion by the hour. Even the main target Xi Jinping and the authorities arresting thousands of people has not kept people off the streets.
More than 40,000 infections have been reported in China in recent days, according to the National Health Commission. Perhaps an insignificant number considering the more than 1.4 billion people living in this Asian nation. According to recent estimates, about two million people remain in forced custody.
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