China Protests: Twitter Coverage Part 2
How will the government respond?
Police arrived at peaceful Covid protest in Beijing, on Liangma river. Candles being lit. Earlier, chants in honour of dead in recent fire in Urumqi,and “Shanghai police let them go”- reference to arrests today
A thread.
Urumqi citizens are singing the national anthem in front of the police which is their way to express anger and frustration. For many ppl in Xinjiang, it’s gonna be a sleepless night.
Alex From Xinjiang @xinjiangalex
The March of the Volunteers, before it became the national anthem, was written specifically for mass singing in the streets by crowds.
Alex From Xinjiang @xinjiangalex
People forget just how hardcore the lyrics are:
Protests are rare in China because there is no coordination mechanism. In other societies religion, NGOs, and technology serve that coordinating function. One folly of COVIDZero is that it supplies a coordination mechanism across regions and socioeconomic classes. Irony is rich.
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
Speeches of Xi’s dad saying that officials have to listen to the voice of the people going viral in response to the Urumqi fire
A bit of levity
Viral WeChat video of fans celebrating at the World Cup behind audio of someone screaming at people to put on their masks
“those born after 2000 celebrating the end of COVID”
The Jason Zhou’s newsletter looks interesting but it's invite-only, is there a way I can get an invite? 🤔