Protests in China: repressed anger

Things have calmed down in China after protests against the zero-Covid policy over the weekend. Only a few people demonstrate. The Chinese security apparatus works and protects the head of state Xi Jinping.

This time the Shanghai authorities are prepared. High barricades are erected along the streets before dawn. Patrol cars and police officers line the streets exactly where people protested against the corona measures in China over the weekend. This is to avoid further demonstrations. The city also wants to deter people with arrests.

Police presence has increased considerably, controls have been tightened again, not only in Shanghai but also in the capital Beijing.

No deviations from the zero Covid policy

What the protesters are calling for is a move away from the zero-Covid policy. But there won’t be. “We believe that with the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the unity of the Chinese people, our fight against Corona will be successful,” Zhao Lijian, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a news conference today.

At the same time, there have been minor concessions: In Beijing, students at some universities are now apparently allowed to leave campus after previously being locked out for several weeks. There had also been protests at universities.

Experts: Vaccinations are the only way

Experts see vaccination as China’s only way out of the pandemic. So does Alicia Garcia Herrero in Hong Kong. She is chief Asia Pacific economist at French investment bank Natixis. You look at the Chinese people’s displeasure from an economic perspective. The corona measures are putting a strain on the Chinese economy, says the economist. Many people would have lost their jobs and would have had less money on hand. Overall consumption is weak.

“If China were to implement a massive vaccination program, it would have a direct impact on the economy,” Herrero says. This could change market expectations a bit. “But even now I don’t hear anyone talking about vaccinations.”

There are no major vaccination campaigns in the country with 1.4 billion inhabitants. Instead, people in China have been living with recurring lockdowns, mass testing, exit and travel restrictions for nearly three years. Hundreds of people then protested against the strict coronavirus measures over the weekend.

Complex Chinese security apparatus

One of the protesters’ demands: State and party leader Xi Jinping resigns. “It has been a long, long time since people have taken to the streets and publicly and loudly expressed very concrete concerns,” Katja Drinhausen points out. You conduct research at the Merics China Research Institute in Berlin, mainly on Chinese domestic politics and society.

Protests are exceptional in China. Also because in the People’s Republic there is no freedom of the press and of opinion and no right to demonstrate. However, the demos take place simultaneously in different locations in China, inspired by each other.

However, this cannot immediately become dangerous for state and party leader Xi Jinping. “The party-state has built up a very complex security apparatus in recent decades,” says Drinhausen. The central pillars of the state are surveillance with cameras and a relatively large number of police and internal security capabilities are well known.

And the security apparatus also works on the Internet. Nothing about the protests is found in Chinese state-controlled media, and censorship authorities are quick to delete photos and videos from online networks. What the world sees in international reports, most people in China don’t see.