Standing Up to Zero COVID: The View from Beijing

This episode of BATG provides a “time stamp” and an initial reaction to protests in several major Chinese cities on November 26 and 27, events that are still developing at the time of this recording. After a week of growing frustration over renewed lockdowns amid a spike in Covid cases, and increasing anger over the death of 10 people in a fire in Urumqi, Chinese citizens took to the streets in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Wuhan, and other cities to protest the continuing disruptive effects of the “zero Covid” policy. Expressions of rage and disillusionment expanded from complaints about the mishandling of the epidemic to furious calls for Xi Jinping to step down. 

We cover questions such as: What factors triggered these protests? Will the protests continue after this tumultuous weekend? What will the government’s next move be? Will the public dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the epidemic lead to a collapse in public support for the Party and an undermining of the implicit “performance legitimacy” justification that has been the basis for CCP state control?

For those interested in following the protests and the response, we highly recommend the Chinese Twitter feed 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele).