Protests Erupt in China, calling for Xi Jinping to step down

[Forsher]

There's a theory that the CCP only maintains power because most Chinese people believe things have been good and will keep getting better. Back when the news made Covid sound like a sort of Chinese ebola, I entertained the notion that some kind of groundswell would eventuate. I guess I stopped believing that would happen a long time ago now, but I guess I was wrong.

[Chong Qing]

I suggest you have a good look (this is Nanjing: https://live.baidu.com/m/media/pclive/p ... 7840344380 ）

I suggest you have a look at this.. https://twitter.com/rfa_chinese/status/ ... 4986681344?

That’s just at Tsinghua, interestingly chanting 5 demands, reminiscent of HKs 5 demands, not one less. There were also protests at Beida university, and then the one reported at Liangmahe, which seems far more than just 1,000 people from what I'm seeing.

Speaking of Hong Kong, I suggest you have a look (2019: http://v.ifeng.com/c/v/v0026Xj5nV4lLmKC ... AI0qoA____ ）

[Bombadil]

Basically, Chong Qing, you're going to have to try a lot harder than just deny what's going on. You're not Chinese state media with powers to remove all evidence here.

[Chong Qing]

Speaking of Hong Kong, I suggest you have a look (2019: http://v.ifeng.com/c/v/v0026Xj5nV4lLmKC ... AI0qoA____ ）

[Bombadil]

I suggest you have a look at this.. https://twitter.com/rfa_chinese/status/ ... 4986681344?

That’s just at Tsinghua, interestingly chanting 5 demands, reminiscent of HKs 5 demands, not one less. There were also protests at Beida university, and then the one reported at Liangmahe, which seems far more than just 1,000 people from what I'm seeing.

Speaking of Hong Kong, I suggest you have a look (2019: http://v.ifeng.com/c/v/v0026Xj5nV4lLmKC ... AI0qoA____ ）

I live here, I'm very aware of what we went through. Hopefully your government has learned that completely ignoring the will of the people will lead to outbreaks of violence.

God knows I don't hold much hope for that.

[Picairn]

BBC journalist Ed Lawrence arrested in China and beaten by the police, released several hours later. The official (bullshit) explanation is that they arrested him to prevent him from getting Covid from the crowd.

[Punished UMN]

Tend to think the importance of protests in non-democratic countries is often overstated. Even relatively fringe movements can garner large numbers of protesters and even large protests don't necessarily pose a threat to the government. As a comparison to a democratic country, the George Floyd protests of 2020 were seemingly many times larger and more widespread than these, involved far more militant movements, etc. and still did not really threaten the stability of the US government.

[Veneti Marsei]

Xi's caught in a trap right now, and its absolutely beautiful.

The thing is, he can't lift the bans, or not as much as the protesters are demanding. However autocratic China is, it is not fully one-man totalitarian, so Xi needs the support of the party and his government to actually stay in command. Xi needs to be BIG, he needs to be POWERFUL and IN CONTROL, due to equal parts cultural and historical expectations. If he wants to remain in power, he needs to commit to CRUSHING COVID, which he has mistakenly based so much of his image around.

Except the thing is, you can't just crush a disease. It'll always come back, every other country already understands this, the leadership of China understands this. But Eastern culture is so much about face and achievements that Xi has committed to crushing a disease, and if he turned back now he would be ruining his image.

Now people are mad that they are literally starving in their 5 by 5 foot apartments and aren't allowed to leave for any reason, and civil unrest is starting to build. Combine this with the stagnating Chinese economy and decreasing standard of living (The only reason the Chinese accept their lack of freedom is because they live so well), and you very well may have rioting and even revolts on your hands.

Its a beautiful example of a country self-sabotaging itself and being stuck in the cycle of self-sabotage.

[Chong Qing]

Speaking of Hong Kong, I suggest you have a look (2019: http://v.ifeng.com/c/v/v0026Xj5nV4lLmKC ... AI0qoA____ ）

I live here, I'm very aware of what we went through. Hopefully your government has learned that completely ignoring the will of the people will lead to outbreaks of violence.

God knows I don't hold much hope for that.

I live in Wuhan, and now I live in a community near the Yangtze River. I am very clear about what happens in Wuhan and nearby areas. Every morning, we get up on time and finish nucleic acid testing before 12:00, and then go to school or work. If the government requires, we will go to quarantine, businesses (most of them) will voluntarily close down, and school classes will automatically switch to online. We are used to this model in 2020, Even the prevention and control restrictions in 2020 are stricter than now, but we know that our sacrifice to individuals can make our country return to normal as soon as possible. A year ago, when your country was still in the mire of viruses, we basically got rid of it Δ Viruses. Now, we have made mistakes at the epidemic command level, so we continue to be semi closed, which is also the will of most of our people. For us, most of us have no complaints. Those who have those ideas are just the minority. According to the political principle of most countries, "the minority is subordinate to the majority", right?

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

BBC journalist Ed Lawrence arrested in China and beaten by the police, released several hours later. The official (bullshit) explanation is that they arrested him to prevent him from getting Covid from the crowd.

These thugs got terrorism down to an art over there... along with their sycophant chorus of slaves online.
Vulgar. Absolutely vulgar.

[Drongonia]

I live here, I'm very aware of what we went through. Hopefully your government has learned that completely ignoring the will of the people will lead to outbreaks of violence.

God knows I don't hold much hope for that.

I live in Wuhan, and now I live in a community near the Yangtze River. I am very clear about what happens in Wuhan and nearby areas. Every morning, we get up on time and finish nucleic acid testing before 12:00, and then go to school or work. If the government requires, we will go to quarantine, businesses (most of them) will voluntarily close down, and school classes will automatically switch to online. We are used to this model in 2020, Even the prevention and control restrictions in 2020 are stricter than now, but we know that our sacrifice to individuals can make our country return to normal as soon as possible. A year ago, when your country was still in the mire of viruses, we basically got rid of it Δ Viruses. Now, we have made mistakes at the epidemic command level, so we continue to be semi closed, which is also the will of most of our people. For us, most of us have no complaints. Those who have those ideas are just the minority. According to the political principle of most countries, "the minority is subordinate to the majority", right?

So those who are being forced to isolate 24/7 are alright with that for the greater good?

[Punished UMN]

I live in Wuhan, and now I live in a community near the Yangtze River. I am very clear about what happens in Wuhan and nearby areas. Every morning, we get up on time and finish nucleic acid testing before 12:00, and then go to school or work. If the government requires, we will go to quarantine, businesses (most of them) will voluntarily close down, and school classes will automatically switch to online. We are used to this model in 2020, Even the prevention and control restrictions in 2020 are stricter than now, but we know that our sacrifice to individuals can make our country return to normal as soon as possible. A year ago, when your country was still in the mire of viruses, we basically got rid of it Δ Viruses. Now, we have made mistakes at the epidemic command level, so we continue to be semi closed, which is also the will of most of our people. For us, most of us have no complaints. Those who have those ideas are just the minority. According to the political principle of most countries, "the minority is subordinate to the majority", right?

So those who are being forced to isolate 24/7 are alright with that for the greater good?

A quarantine doesn't really work if it's purely optional. He never said they were okay with it, he said it is the greater political will to isolate those who have the virus from those who are healthy to prevent the spread.

[Bombadil]

I live here, I'm very aware of what we went through. Hopefully your government has learned that completely ignoring the will of the people will lead to outbreaks of violence.

God knows I don't hold much hope for that.

I live in Wuhan, and now I live in a community near the Yangtze River. I am very clear about what happens in Wuhan and nearby areas. Every morning, we get up on time and finish nucleic acid testing before 12:00, and then go to school or work. If the government requires, we will go to quarantine, businesses (most of them) will voluntarily close down, and school classes will automatically switch to online. We are used to this model in 2020, Even the prevention and control restrictions in 2020 are stricter than now, but we know that our sacrifice to individuals can make our country return to normal as soon as possible. A year ago, when your country was still in the mire of viruses, we basically got rid of it Δ Viruses. Now, we have made mistakes at the epidemic command level, so we continue to be semi closed, which is also the will of most of our people. For us, most of us have no complaints. Those who have those ideas are just the minority. According to the political principle of most countries, "the minority is subordinate to the majority", right?

I think people in China have absolutely complied for the past 3 years, but events over the last couple of months have changed things. There is no end in sight, random lockdowns all the time, there was the bus crash that killed 24 people, the father crying about his baby dying, the recent fire, viewing the rest of the world just moving around freely.

A lot of pent up frustration is spilling over.

It's impossible to tell how people feel in China, really, there's no gain in telling even your colleagues how you really feel. So it's impossible to tell if people are broadly happy with the situation or not.

We can certainly argue over how widespread this discontent is, but you can't deny protests are happening, they're against the policy, and turning political against Xi Jinping and the CCP.

[Chong Qing]

However, I'm sorry, we are all isolated, and all people are isolated at home

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

However, I'm sorry, we are all isolated, and all people are isolated at home

Sure
you are sorry
Suuuure

[Moscareinas]

Wake up honey, new CIA op dropped

oh fucking hell

while i'm upset that it took covid control measures -- STILL A GOOD THING! -- to provoke this desire for democracy, democracy is absolutely not a fucking cia op, what the fuck

[Laasmistan]

First Iran and now China. What a wild year it's been.

[Nilokeras]

Xi's caught in a trap right now, and its absolutely beautiful.

The thing is, he can't lift the bans, or not as much as the protesters are demanding. However autocratic China is, it is not fully one-man totalitarian, so Xi needs the support of the party and his government to actually stay in command. Xi needs to be BIG, he needs to be POWERFUL and IN CONTROL, due to equal parts cultural and historical expectations. If he wants to remain in power, he needs to commit to CRUSHING COVID, which he has mistakenly based so much of his image around.

Except the thing is, you can't just crush a disease. It'll always come back, every other country already understands this, the leadership of China understands this. But Eastern culture is so much about face and achievements that Xi has committed to crushing a disease, and if he turned back now he would be ruining his image.

'Instead of looking into any material reasons why the Chinese government might still be pursuing a covid-zero approach, like the limited effectiveness of its homegrown vaccines, almost no access to other vaccine sources and extremely uneven access to healthcare, I'm going to speculate wildly on how because Xi is an inscrutable Oriental, he must cosplay as the Emperor at all times. I am very smart'

[Chong Qing]

So those who are being forced to isolate 24/7 are alright with that for the greater good?

A quarantine doesn't really work if it's purely optional. He never said they were okay with it, he said it is the greater political will to isolate those who have the virus from those who are healthy to prevent the spread.

However, I'm sorry that we are all quarantined. All of us are quarantined at home. Only those diagnosed with infection will be centrally quarantined..

[Veneti Marsei]

I live here, I'm very aware of what we went through. Hopefully your government has learned that completely ignoring the will of the people will lead to outbreaks of violence.

God knows I don't hold much hope for that.

I live in Wuhan, and now I live in a community near the Yangtze River. I am very clear about what happens in Wuhan and nearby areas. Every morning, we get up on time and finish nucleic acid testing before 12:00, and then go to school or work. If the government requires, we will go to quarantine, businesses (most of them) will voluntarily close down, and school classes will automatically switch to online. We are used to this model in 2020, Even the prevention and control restrictions in 2020 are stricter than now, but we know that our sacrifice to individuals can make our country return to normal as soon as possible. A year ago, when your country was still in the mire of viruses, we basically got rid of it Δ Viruses. Now, we have made mistakes at the epidemic command level, so we continue to be semi closed, which is also the will of most of our people. For us, most of us have no complaints. Those who have those ideas are just the minority. According to the political principle of most countries, "the minority is subordinate to the majority", right?

You are aware that the rest of the world HAS largely returned to normal, correct? The rest of the world is carrying on with trade and the World Cup, and China is still stubbornly insisting that Covid is still a threat. It is not. We have created the vaccines and the medicine to fight it, and so now we may return to normal.

China has made great strides in ridding itself of Covid, yes. But it has lost its sight and its way. Covid is like the flu, it will come and it will go with the seasons and we cannot crush it, only treat it when it comes. To treat it like an enemy is foolish, it is like trying to fight water. And yet China continues to shut down cities, lock people in their homes at the slightest whiff of the disease. China would be far better off following the way the West is handling the situation: Continue on as normal with some precautions, and respond to the disease with vaccines and medication rather than trying to fight it beforehand.

Your government knows this, but it hardly cares for you. Xi Jinping needs to beat Covid so that he can be re-elected, and then re-elected, and then re-elected. He is too busy playing the game of politics to truly care for his people. All that he does, he does so that he may remain in control.

And I think all this raises an interesting question: what is the point of sacrificng your liberty? You sacrifice your freedoms to the government, but it does not care for you? And so for what? For your childrens future? But what good is their future when the government does not care for them either? For the sake of China? Such is a fragile concept, to devote yourself to an ever-changing state.

[Bombadil]

Xi's caught in a trap right now, and its absolutely beautiful.

The thing is, he can't lift the bans, or not as much as the protesters are demanding. However autocratic China is, it is not fully one-man totalitarian, so Xi needs the support of the party and his government to actually stay in command. Xi needs to be BIG, he needs to be POWERFUL and IN CONTROL, due to equal parts cultural and historical expectations. If he wants to remain in power, he needs to commit to CRUSHING COVID, which he has mistakenly based so much of his image around.

Except the thing is, you can't just crush a disease. It'll always come back, every other country already understands this, the leadership of China understands this. But Eastern culture is so much about face and achievements that Xi has committed to crushing a disease, and if he turned back now he would be ruining his image.

'Instead of looking into any material reasons why the Chinese government might still be pursuing a covid-zero approach, like the limited effectiveness of its homegrown vaccines, almost no access to other vaccine sources and extremely uneven access to healthcare, I'm going to speculate wildly on how because Xi is an inscrutable Oriental, he must cosplay as the Emperor at all times. I am very smart'

It can be true to say both, that China is stuck with the virus and cannot let it rampage freely given low vaccination rates, especially among the elderly. However it's also true that he has a huge amount of personal capital invested in this approach.

Way back at the beginning, he sent Li Keqiang down to Wuhan, saying it was his responsibility. However the people started praising Li Keqiang for being there, and then handling it effectively in locking down Wuhan. Xi Jinping saw this, saw the success and then claimed it all for himself.

He owns it now, completely.

However, he's just untouchable, he's got rid of all political enemies in the name of corruption, and he owns all the levers of power from government to military.

[Chong Qing]

I live in Wuhan, and now I live in a community near the Yangtze River. I am very clear about what happens in Wuhan and nearby areas. Every morning, we get up on time and finish nucleic acid testing before 12:00, and then go to school or work. If the government requires, we will go to quarantine, businesses (most of them) will voluntarily close down, and school classes will automatically switch to online. We are used to this model in 2020, Even the prevention and control restrictions in 2020 are stricter than now, but we know that our sacrifice to individuals can make our country return to normal as soon as possible. A year ago, when your country was still in the mire of viruses, we basically got rid of it Δ Viruses. Now, we have made mistakes at the epidemic command level, so we continue to be semi closed, which is also the will of most of our people. For us, most of us have no complaints. Those who have those ideas are just the minority. According to the political principle of most countries, "the minority is subordinate to the majority", right?

You are aware that the rest of the world HAS largely returned to normal, correct? The rest of the world is carrying on with trade and the World Cup, and China is still stubbornly insisting that Covid is still a threat. It is not. We have created the vaccines and the medicine to fight it, and so now we may return to normal.

China has made great strides in ridding itself of Covid, yes. But it has lost its sight and its way. Covid is like the flu, it will come and it will go with the seasons and we cannot crush it, only treat it when it comes. To treat it like an enemy is foolish, it is like trying to fight water. And yet China continues to shut down cities, lock people in their homes at the slightest whiff of the disease. China would be far better off following the way the West is handling the situation: Continue on as normal with some precautions, and respond to the disease with vaccines and medication rather than trying to fight it beforehand.

Your government knows this, but it hardly cares for you. Xi Jinping needs to beat Covid so that he can be re-elected, and then re-elected, and then re-elected. He is too busy playing the game of politics to truly care for his people. All that he does, he does so that he may remain in control.

And I think all this raises an interesting question: what is the point of sacrificng your liberty? You sacrifice your freedoms to the government, but it does not care for you? And so for what? For your childrens future? But what good is their future when the government does not care for them either? For the sake of China? Such is a fragile concept, to devote yourself to an ever-changing state.

I hope you can clearly see that I did not write that we will be closed when the epidemic comes. But in the absence of the epidemic, except for wearing masks and making nucleic acid every day, is there no difference from before 2020? Don't you see that we have already held the Winter Olympics in the first half of 2022..? Have we closed the door? Do you understand that we only implement semi blockade in the most severely affected areas?

[Chong Qing]

'Instead of looking into any material reasons why the Chinese government might still be pursuing a covid-zero approach, like the limited effectiveness of its homegrown vaccines, almost no access to other vaccine sources and extremely uneven access to healthcare, I'm going to speculate wildly on how because Xi is an inscrutable Oriental, he must cosplay as the Emperor at all times. I am very smart'

It can be true to say both, that China is stuck with the virus and cannot let it rampage freely given low vaccination rates, especially among the elderly. However it's also true that he has a huge amount of personal capital invested in this approach.

Way back at the beginning, he sent Li Keqiang down to Wuhan, saying it was his responsibility. However the people started praising Li Keqiang for being there, and then handling it effectively in locking down Wuhan. Xi Jinping saw this, saw the success and then claimed it all for himself.

He owns it now, completely.

However, he's just untouchable, he's got rid of all political enemies in the name of corruption, and he owns all the levers of power from government to military.

Oh, my God, what do you think is a high vaccination rate??

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

It can be true to say both, that China is stuck with the virus and cannot let it rampage freely given low vaccination rates, especially among the elderly. However it's also true that he has a huge amount of personal capital invested in this approach.

Way back at the beginning, he sent Li Keqiang down to Wuhan, saying it was his responsibility. However the people started praising Li Keqiang for being there, and then handling it effectively in locking down Wuhan. Xi Jinping saw this, saw the success and then claimed it all for himself.

He owns it now, completely.

However, he's just untouchable, he's got rid of all political enemies in the name of corruption, and he owns all the levers of power from government to military.

Oh, my God, what do you think is a high vaccination rate??

For flu-like viruses, anything between 90 and 100%. Triple doses needs to be at least at 90% to be considered adequate. Thus 63% is shockingly inadequate.

[Chong Qing]

'Instead of looking into any material reasons why the Chinese government might still be pursuing a covid-zero approach, like the limited effectiveness of its homegrown vaccines, almost no access to other vaccine sources and extremely uneven access to healthcare, I'm going to speculate wildly on how because Xi is an inscrutable Oriental, he must cosplay as the Emperor at all times. I am very smart'

It can be true to say both, that China is stuck with the virus and cannot let it rampage freely given low vaccination rates, especially among the elderly. However it's also true that he has a huge amount of personal capital invested in this approach.

Way back at the beginning, he sent Li Keqiang down to Wuhan, saying it was his responsibility. However the people started praising Li Keqiang for being there, and then handling it effectively in locking down Wuhan. Xi Jinping saw this, saw the success and then claimed it all for himself.

He owns it now, completely.

However, he's just untouchable, he's got rid of all political enemies in the name of corruption, and he owns all the levers of power from government to military.

I hope you understand that this is the government that we elected, recognized, and now best represents our views.