The public in China is taking to the streets to protest against lockdowns due to Covid restrictions in China. People of China are frustrated with the lockdown policy, the protest started online and then marched to government buildings, protesting, and shouting, “end lockdowns” causing widespread civil disobedience. Protest is now evidenced all over the country in 79 Universities in 15 different provinces.
In November 2022, there was a recent deadly protest in Urumqi, Xinjiang Province where a resident of China was calling for the lifting of lockdown that confined them in their homes for more than three months with lacking necessary supplies. The people of China are very angry with the COVID restriction, and they are protesting for democracy and human rights and even asking for the resignation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his zero-COVID policy. China's economy is gone down as a result of the lockdown increasing unemployment. There are also worries about how large these protests are becoming and that they might turn south similar to what happened in Tiananmen square 1989, but what everyone knows for sure is that this protest is just the beginning of what Chinese citizens are willing to do for a change in how life is.
China's Protest has had a negative impact on the Chinese economy and has drastically affected the world stock market, especially it has a negative impact on shares of companies that rely on China for production. Apple's production of phones reduced significantly having a negative impact on Apple's stock price and today December 11 the Apple stock price decreased to $142 per share compared to a high of $182 per share in 2021. Supply chain issue is faced all over the globe, increasing delivery time from China. Some companies are evaluating moving their production facilities to other countries, such as Apple shifted some of its manufacturing to India. We can see companies being less reliant on China causing China to have an even more serious problem with unemployment rates increasing in the years coming.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/09/business/hong-kong-economy-protests-business/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/26/world/asia/china-protests-covid.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/28/china-protests-zero-covid-apple
20 comments:
China notoriously limits the rights of its citizens. The CCP often hides their restrictions on freedom of speech or the independence of Chinese citizens by claiming their actions as "COVID policies" to protect the people. It is a good sign that the government is experiencing repercussions, especially from the protest of younger generations, from Universities all around the country. Their protesting proves that the newer generations oppose the traditional authoritarian government, and acts as a beacon of hope for the future. Furthermore, the decline in China's economy may act as another wake up call. As more business slowly disassociate with the country, the government will be forced to significantly change their ways, unless they want to continue their recession since COVID.
The COVID lockdown in China has become more than a restriction for benefits of public safety. As the death of a young 3 year old boy triggers outrage amongst Chinese citizens, the detrimental consequences of such COVID lockdown has raised questions over strict virus control measures and their impact on mental health. Restricting the bodily autonomy of citizens, where people are faced with lack of food, supply, and even death, is merely not right in all aspects. As China's traditional authoritarian government has become a direct cause of many consequences--in its economy and the attitude of the general population in China-- and, as Angelo mentioned, I would hope that the CCP would feel obligated, if not forced, to change.
To contextualize these lockdowns a little, China's healthcare system is far less developed than the US', and fewer Chinese citizens are vaccinated. Those who are vaccinated are vaccinated by Chinese vaccines that have questionable efficacy. Yes, we should criticize the Chinese government for the overbearing Covid requirements, but, to pre-emptively address anyone who labels the Zero-Covid policy as solely a political/autocratic power grab, I'd like to assert that China's Covid circumstances are definitely more dire than in the US.
It's time for China's Covid policies to change, but a shift to Western-style Covid-restriction relaxations would be irresponsible as well.
To add on to what Ben is saying, the reason why most individuals in China have been vaccinated from Chinese companies is because China refuses to import Western COVID-19 vaccines. To make the situation even more complex, many elders are hesitant to get vaccinated because of its side effects. Rather than implementing their zero-COVID policy, I think China should focus on encouraging citizens to get vaccinated.
I agree with what has been said already. One thing to note was that the protests first started as people gathered to commemorate the lives lost in the Urumqi fire apartment, which then led to the lockdown protests. The protests don't seem like a new thing in Chinese history because, In the past, China has been known as a place that is more restrictive in what citizens can and can't do. They have very limited rights, and instead of focusing on the zero-COVID policy, the government should be taking steps to get their people vaccinated and take other healthcare precautions to address the situation. I think that the protests and the decline in the economy are going to continue to force change from the Chinese government, and so I wonder if or what the policy changes will be in the coming weeks.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/12/china-zero-covid-protests-overseas-students-diaspora/
I believe this is the second or third blog post about China's zero policy Covid policy and it is clear the country is beginning to suffer more. The conflict between the people and government seems to be escalating and hopefully as a result change is able to happen among the party. I am somewhat surprised about China's decision to remain in a zero Covid policy time considering the goals they outlined to become a world leader in many different industries like tech and manufacturing. Assuming China's vaccines are just as effective as the rest of the world and they are able to manufacture them at a fast enough rate there should be no issue resuming work and life for the people in China. We're at the point where the world depends on China as a hub for business given the growth of their tech industry along with the reliance we have on them for manufacturing.
I believe China will likely start loosening its restriction, because as you said it is impacting its economy, and if big companies like apple move from China that will make the economy even worse. Now that we know the effectiveness of the vaccine, and there is not a major threat it is reasonable for China to remove its lockdown. The protests of the younger generation will definitely have an impact. But knowing China's past they might try to suppress these protests. China is the biggest manufacturer of apple, and other big companies and if these big companies leave China it can completely destroy China's economy. I believe that in the coming week's China will change its policies.
This is an unfortunate reality for the Chinese people. It seems like the government's stubbornness to adopt Western vaccinations is not only stripping Chinese citizens from receiving effective solutions to Covid but also forcing the government to suppress their freedoms. As Angelo said in an earlier post, I believe that the CCP is covering its attack on freedom of speech and independence with this "Zero-Covid" policy. During the Hong Kong protests of 2019-2020, the Chinese government was faced with growing opposition to their authoritarian leadership. I believe that this "zero-covid" policy also could be an indication of why they are taking such a restrictive approach, and the future of the Chinese government's policies if the youth continue to rebel.
The increasing tensions in China are hurting not only their own citizens and population, but now its expanded to the world economy, garnering interest from American companies and the government. Apple's move to shift production is almost a necessary move, as the company must continue to meet production demands, especially at the height of the holiday season, and yet, the political environment of their many producer is hindering their efforts. Additionally, the people of China are suffering unfair living conditions and lockdowns, as most of the world has returned to life similiar to the pre-pandemic life.
Are the Chinese dissatisfied? What a shock. The unfair reality is that the majority of Chinese citizens are dissatisfied with their situation and the authoritarian regime imposed by the government. So, let us hope that these protests result in positive change and usher in a new era for the Republic of China.
Instead of restricting people to their homes, China should seek alternate solutions to stop the spread of the virus, when obviously the impatience and anger citizens are feeling during the long-term quarantine is building up. I don't think it's beneficial for China to continue the lockdowns when its people and economy are suffering.
Additionally, to provide more clarity on the comments mentioning the Chinese government's violation of free speech, the CN government is notorious for punishing dissidents, or any action or speech in opposition to the government, in a much more extreme manner than the US. Even though the Chinese constitution has promised free speech rights, this is merely symbolic as there are additional government powers enumerated in its constitution that allows the government to essentially subvert the free speech clause with the argument of protecting state interests or security, for example the CN constitution prohibits doing anything in opposition to the interests of the state. This has been stretched by the gov to include dissent/dissagreements. The US constitution is different in that the constitutional limits on free speech (inciting violence, etc.) are specific enough so that the laws can't be interpreted as vaguely and used as a power grab, so freedom of speech is generally more legitimate in the US.
I definitely agree with people's comments about China's extremist policies being an alarming violation of human rights. The protests definitely seem justified. However, it is important to recognize that China has struggled to control the virus. They have not imported vaccines like Pfizer's or Moderna's and instead have opted for their own homegrown vaccines. Although data is not completely conclusive, it has shown that those vaccines are less effective in developing immunity. But still, there are better ways of handling the situation than China's tyrannical response.
I agree with everyone that with CCP censorship of the situation it becomes increasingly hard to understand exactly how bad the protest is and what actions the CCP is using to fight back against its citizens. I also believe that China will be forced to loosen restrictions with pressure from the rest of the world and its own citizens finally stepping up for themselves.
As many others have said, this is a case of China grossly overstepping whatever authority they might have, especially since the people themselves are going out to protest rather than just us talking about it online. It's one thing to have a lockdown for that long of a time period, which is understandable in cases, but when the people don't have access to the necessary materials they need then it becomes a big problem. Recently, I heard a story about how buildings implemented these pegs what would prevent front doors from being opened, which caused 3 children to die during a house fire because they physically weren't able to escape. I don't remember where I heard it from and thus can't verify, but if it's true then the people should rightfully protest if even if it means losing their lives, as they likely would anyway under the current system.
These lockdowns and protests are a great example of how the Chinese government does not do a good job listening to the issues of the people. These protests and lockdowns are slowing down the Chinese economy, and the US economy is also hurting. The US has an overreliance on Chinese goods and manufacturing. The solution to protect the US economy from external events is to bring back manufacturing to America, and have it be based on American events.
These lockdowns are a basic threat to the freedom and livelihoods of the Chinese citizens. Just because the government believes that these lockdowns will be the only way to protect its constituents from the virus, the people of that country have their own capability to make decisions for themselves and to take care of the health in anyway they want to; they don't need someone else to be in control of them through restrictions. These lockdowns are also occurring in Korea, many people that travel to China or Korea have to be in quarantine for at least a week or so because the country is obviously afraid of this virus. Also, the people are literally protesting about the lockdowns and their hate towards it, so why can't the government just understand its citizens and just act like a government that responds to its people? The manufacturing too. Because of the lockdown, many countries have restrictions for trade relations with China. Because everything became a lot slower due to the lockdown, as the blog said, countries like the US are starting to have other trade relations or expanding their companies, Apple, to other nations such as India because these countries don't have restrictions and therefore are easier to increase the amount of production for more profit.
The protests in China are a symptom of a larger problem with the CCP-run government. China has over 1 billion people, yet the citizens don't get a voice in how the government is run and all the decisions are made by a small group of leaders in the Chinese Communist Party. If the government makes decisions that are either unpopular or a mistake (or both), the people have no way to voice their concerns other than protest, which itself is sharply repressed in the country. Despite the risks of jail, losing ones job, or other punishments, many people are still protesting to get their voice heard. The last time this happened on a large scale was in the last 1980's when the Tiananmen Square protests, which were violently suppressed with large loss of life. The CCP has a police state apparatus which is unparalleled in the world, and it would be difficult for the protests to get too large without being crushed, but revolutions have occurred many times in history, so maybe this will lead down that road. The more likely path is that the government will give enough ground and loosen some restrictions to appease some of the protesters, and then jail the leaders of the protests once things settle down, which would be a very unfortunate outcome for the people there who risked so much to have their voice heard.
With a policy that strict, it appears as though the Chinese government is just trying to protect the people and stop harmful sicknesses from spreading. However, several years have passed, and while caution is still crucial, it is ridiculous to still maintain such strict regulations. In fact, keeping people locked in their homes and allowing the economy to fail, I would argue, is even more harmful to Chinese citizens' well-being. With this much widespread dissent to these rules, I think it should be clear to the government that they should act in favor of the people and what they want, which is the freedom to attempt to get back to a normal life.
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