Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #zerocovidchina
Most recents (3)
There has been surprise and awe as protestors in China chant “Xi Jinping, stand down” (习近平下台). Yet from our knowledge of power and resistance in authoritarian states, these demands should be expected to emerge sooner or later. 🧵
#ZeroCovidChina #UrumqiFire #ChinaProtests
#ZeroCovidChina #UrumqiFire #ChinaProtests
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The late, great Stephen White who taught Post-Communist Politics 101 emphasised that the more personalised an authoritarian system, the more that social discontent will focus on that leader as the sole actor responsible for policy and with power to change course.
The late, great Stephen White who taught Post-Communist Politics 101 emphasised that the more personalised an authoritarian system, the more that social discontent will focus on that leader as the sole actor responsible for policy and with power to change course.
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The more violent the leader, the more violence expected in state transformation. For example, no analyst wonders why Nicolae Ceaușescu’s end was so violent. It is explained in relation to the intensity of levels of state violence and personalisation of the political system.
The more violent the leader, the more violence expected in state transformation. For example, no analyst wonders why Nicolae Ceaușescu’s end was so violent. It is explained in relation to the intensity of levels of state violence and personalisation of the political system.
Important to remember protests in China aren't new or unusual. # have gone down under XI after high tide of labor, land, environment protests of the Hu-Wen period, who didn't always repress legitimate grievances. what's different now? 1/4 ft.com/content/2265af…
The CCP has tended to tolerate *large* protests re: "livelihood" issues and to repress system-changing protests of *any* size. That's why protests re: #ZeroCovidChina are dangerous. Previously livelihood protests demand that gov't *do* something: restrain capital and corruption 2
Now at least some people demand that the gov't rollback lockdowns that put people's lives in danger and destroy the economy. They demand *freedom* in order to live. A potential system-changing demand embedded in a livelihood claim! Other danger is that Zero Covid is clearly 3/4
Urumchi is not Zhengzhou. I lived there for several years, observing and interviewing around many protests. I want to add some overlooked background to #UrumqiProtest conversation. Many dominant voices on the subject have never been there. 🧵
#Xinjiang #ZeroCovidChina #Uyghurs
#Xinjiang #ZeroCovidChina #Uyghurs
1.
@guardian / @Reuters quoted 1 respected political scientist but who does not research the region. Alternatively, many foreign and Uyghur experts who know the city are available, sharing videos and analysis on the capital city of their homeland.
theguardian.com/world/2022/nov…
@guardian / @Reuters quoted 1 respected political scientist but who does not research the region. Alternatively, many foreign and Uyghur experts who know the city are available, sharing videos and analysis on the capital city of their homeland.
theguardian.com/world/2022/nov…
2.
Bypassing experts guarantees ideological framings (“Chinese protest” & “civil society”), ignoring local dynamics where Han protestors often describe themselves as “vanguard” and Uyghurs died in a building fire under ethnically targeting and excessive covid controls.
Bypassing experts guarantees ideological framings (“Chinese protest” & “civil society”), ignoring local dynamics where Han protestors often describe themselves as “vanguard” and Uyghurs died in a building fire under ethnically targeting and excessive covid controls.
