So COVID numbers are rising rapidly (outpacing the bureaucracy’s ability to keep up) while people are increasingly frustrated at lockdowns. ‘Down with the party! Down with Xi Jinping!’ Free Xinjiang!’ [video at link] https://twitter.com/eefjerammeloo/status/1596583242555355137 I’m hearing that these are the largest protests in thirty years.
This seems like a fairly informed and nuanced read of the situation: https://twitter.com/wjhurst/status/1596722048717709312?s=46&t=vuOsAoiCes9ZDP1B-52GcQ
Well, I don't have access to your personal mental dictionary. I'm following the language rules the rest of us are using.
Come on, do the math. There’s over 1 billion Chinese but only a few million Chinese government officials. It’s a lot more practical to have sex with a few million people than over a billion.
Media hypes up these protests because (a) open protests are so rare and (b) liberal Westerners enjoy seeing it. Realistically, this is unlikely to amount to anything liberal or democratic, and may end the way 1989 did. However, it may prompt the government to more decisively change course on zero-covid. They are already trying to loosen up, but the policies are confused and impractical.
They can't be as openly brutal as they were in 1989 because now every last soul carries a recording device. But we saw in Hong Kong 2020 how well they tracked down, supressed, and penalized anyone causing trouble -- even in a city-state that the CCP controls only indirectly. That's the tech on their side. Now the demonstrations are happening on the mainland where the tools of control already reign ubiquitous. However, what the protesters have on their side is numbers and geographic dispersion. As the Twitter thread above noted, all of these segments in society cooperating across the country is unprecedented. And most people here share their grievances, whether or not they want to stick their neck out and complain publicly.
BBC journalist violently arrested while covering protests -- "It's for his own good, so he doesn't catch covid" https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63779176
Local Party Official goes out and tries to get the crowd to disperse... By informing them that they are being controlled by foreign forces. They take his microphone. “Who are these foreign forces? Are they Marx and Engels?” “We can’t even access foreign internet how are the foreign forces meant to be communicating with us?” https://twitter.com/cindyxiaodanyu/status/1597247427781984257?s=46&t=BKZ0u1drQf8EdJeJgStX7Q
Meh. VPNs are available to anyone who wants one. I would say English literacy is a greater obstacle than the Great Firewall.
Which one is preferred by those who would rather not run afoul of authorities? I mean what an endorsement opportunity…. “A hundred million Chinese dissidents can’t be wrong!”
Dang it, that was my question too. Last time I went (2019) most of the commercial ones were blocked immediately or within a few days, and then my homemade one a few days later. Super annoying.
Supposedly, the flashpoint for all of this was the World Cup. Folks watching the game noticed that none of the spectators were wearing masks and were rather upset that they were still being required to. The BBC has reported that the Chinese government is now blocking all crowd shots in coverage of the World Cup.
Chinese cops dressed in protective garb on the streets. https://twitter.com/noelreports/status/1597672106354843649?s=46&t=RET_c-O8FWXiz8c5I2JOwA
That has to be one of the most bizarre things I have seen, even by the standards of this godforsaken place. On par for dystopian factor with the Shanghai drones with girlish voices announcing "Control your soul's desire for freedom."
