China Protests: Twitter Coverage Part 2

How will the government respond?

David Rennie 任大伟 @DSORennie

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.

Alex From Xinjiang @xinjiangalex

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

A fire accident took place in Xinjiang’s Urumqi city, 10 died&9 injured. State media claimed that the site was a “low risk area” where ppl could leave the building freely. However, it has caused public outcry. Many ppl who’ve been stuck at home for months questioned the stmt. https://t.co/aMCnICi6li

Bryan Cheong @bryancsk

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

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. https://t.co/8OKUXEvUUh https://t.co/tNZHJBNzzU

People forget just how hardcore the lyrics are:

Yasheng Huang 黄亚生 @YashengHuang

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.

David Tobin @ReasonablyRagin

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

Jordan Schneider @jordanschnyc

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

Jordan Schneider @jordanschnyc

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”