News coming in of #protests in #China against #XiJingping . Anger over #zeroCOVID, harsh lockdowns, #Henan bank crisis & more culminating into tensions 3 days before #PartyCongress. Unlike #XiCoup news, protests intel appears legit. However, I'm unsure if "protest" is right word
Images coming out mostly show non-group action; rogue disgruntled citizens taking banners up appears more likely. This image, from what I confirmed used image search, is from Beijing's 3rd Ring Road in Haidian. People appear to be going about their day normally. 
The slogan is reactionary & most images circulated are of this one banner in Haidian, Beijing only. However, it will be investigated thoroughly so close to Congress, & police patrol can be expected to be amped up even more (which anyway has been high in the city in prep for NPC)
The slogan is pro-democracy, calling for reform, dignity, Liberty, votes and denouncing need for "Cultural Revolution", "leader", "nucleic acid" & saying one doesn't need to "be a slave to be a citizen". It is most definitely a singular incident, no "protest" in group form.
Censoring of words of #Weibo taking place fast as always, however reports of temporary app shutdown in Beijing area remain unconfirmed at best.
The #ZeroCovid paranoia from the authorities & frustration from the people is very real, especially as it is now a matter of national pride for CPC. The lines between NPC+covid protocols are being merged.
Source in 🇨🇳 presently shared: "They are locking everyone in" even as arbitrary 5th or 10th level of contact tracing. An oct Music fest in Huzhou- which authorities surprisingly allowed- was raided by police, with authorities calling out the names.
They were searching for specific individuals allegedly coming from “high-risk zones”. All participants were made to line up for COVID testing despite having negative tests. They knew these ppl were at the event and had been attempting to trace them in a bid to quarantine them.
"The infrastructure built around contact tracing is a system of social governance and surveillance, applicable in whatever context they want."
In #Henan, there was a protest planned but the heathcodes of the protestors (these were traceable as they were the ppl whose money was frozen by bank, which is what they were going to protest) were changed to red right before the protest, crippling their potential participation
There is a "palpable sense of hopelessness among global Chinese here" as per my friend who know they likely can’t renew their passports. With NPC around the corner, this health based surveillance state model will be utilised to the brim to avoid any potential stressors.
See @polijunkie_aus for some #Weibo reactions to the single "protestor".
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