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Stephen McDonell

Nov 27 • 10 tweets • 10 min read

Anti-#ZeroCovid protests are spreading in #China in different parts of the country, following deaths in a fire blamed on lockdown policies. bbc.com/news/world-asi…

This anti-#ZeroCovid protest is said to have happened today at Tsinghua University in #Beijing. For young people in #China, a large chunk of this crucial part of their lives has been dominated by the #Covid crisis and all its restrictions.

You’ll notice anti-#ZeroCovid protestors holding blank sheets of paper in #China. This is not only a statement about dissent being silenced here, it’s also an up yours to the authorities, as if to say ‘Are you going to arrest me for holding a sign saying nothing?”.

You can see more video footage of the anti-#ZeroCovid protests in #China today in this piece cut together by the BBC’s Beijing bureau… “Zero-Covid anger grows after deadly China fire” bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi…

From me re anti-#ZeroCovid protests in #China. One protester calls out: "Xi Jinping!" And hundreds reply: "Step down!". Again and again: "Xi Jinping! Step down! Xi Jinping! Step down!". Acts of dissent are not unusual in China.. this time it's different. bbc.com/news/world-asi…

At the vigil in #Chengdu tonight (marking the deaths in #Xinjiang and calling for an end to #ZeroCovid) reports that the chant was going up "No more leader for life!", opposing #XiJinping's forever presidency. #China #Covid

#Being anti-#ZeroCovid protests underway right now. #China

#Beijing anti-#ZeroCovid protests are continuing… #China

BTW that was a typo above, I obviously meant anti-#ZeroCovid protests in #Beijing tonight. #China

#Beijing protestors were tonight calling for detained #Shanghai protestors to be released. Could this be the first time ever Beijingers have cheered their support for Shanghai in any capacity? ;-) #ZeroCovid building bridges. #ChinaProtests

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More from @StephenMcDonell

Stephen McDonell

@StephenMcDonell

Nov 29

Some of our TV coverage of recent #ZeroCovid unrest in #China, with protestors dramatically questioning the country’s governance directly, even challenging China’s leader #XiJinping himself. China’s #Covid crisis continues.

Statement from the European Union
Chamber of Commerce in #China recommending a fresh vaccine push and public awareness campaign in the county regarding vaccinations. #ZeroCovid #Covid

#Hangzhou was the latest flashpoint for anti-#ZeroCovid measures last night. Since then it’s been pretty quiet on that front in #China. There’s a government #Covid press conference in just over an hour but we don’t expect any dramatic announcements.

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I couldn’t believe it til I checked but, amidst #ZeroCovid protests here, #China Central Television (CCTV) is editing out close ups of spectators in its coverage of the World Cup so Chinese viewers don’t see thousands of fans without masks in the stands. Only crowd wide shots.

Whether spectators in the stands should be wearing masks or not is another question but this is clearly the Chinese government not trusting its own people with the knowledge that, in the rest of the world, crowds are now gathering maskless and #China stands alone with #ZeroCovid.

And, for those who still doubt it, here is a comparison of World Cup coverage elsewhere and on #China's CCTV with the supporter faces shots being cut so as to hide the reality of the #Covid situation internationally from the Chinese audience...

https://twitter.com/DreyerChina/status/1596721748824641536?s=20&t=L5Qm8o15X7mFaTHDhzhV8A

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Anyone banking on #ZeroCovid being wound back in #China soon, allowing the Chinese economy to bounce back, restoring supply chain reliability here in the near future… don’t. It’s going to take a looong time for China to ease #ZeroCovid.

The government in #China doesn’t seem to know exactly how to escape from the #ZeroCovid corner it’s painted itself into. This will be a long, drawn-out, process of trial and error easing, restricting, easing, restricting.

The huge, renewed, vaccination drive which would be needed before opening #China up hasn’t even started. Approving more effective international vaccines would help. Preparing medical facilities for a big influx of #Covid patients would also have to happen.

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Nov 23

Fresh unrest at the world’s largest #Apple iPhone factory according to Reuters. “People describing themselves as Foxconn workers pulled down barriers and argued with hazmat-suited authorities at a #COVID-hit plant” in #China’s #Zhengzhou.

More details coming through re fresh worker protests at #Foxconn: reports of injuries in clashes with authorities; some workers complaining that those who've had #Covid are being allowed back on shift; others saying they've not been paid bonuses. Some want to go home. #China

More #Foxconn protest details: some workers used sticks to strike surveillance cameras and windows at the factory complex; police have been brought in to manage the tensions there. The global supply of #Apple iPhones was already being hit by the previous mass breakout there.

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Nov 20

#Beijing is not under any official #Covid lockdown but the vast majority of restaurants, shops etc in Chaoyang District are shut and many companies and government departments have told staff not to come in this week because of the #Coronavirus outbreak in the city. #China

I should add the closing of businesses etc mentioned above has also spread to other parts of #Beijing + most schools have switched to online classes. Some restaurants are doing delivery meals. #Covid infections keep going up. Infections found outside of quarantine doubled today.