Chinese leader will see widespread demonstrations against zero-Covid policy as threat to CCP’s authority
Photograph: Mark R Cristino/EPAPhotograph: Mark R Cristino/EPA, President Xi Jinping suddenly faces cracks in the facade of unchallenged authority that he so successfully presented to the world at the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist party.to take to the streets across China and to social media
But many observers detect two unique factors about the current protests. In 1989 the protests were largely confined to Beijing, but these demonstrations are much more geographically diffuse, and with an apparent knowledge of what other cities are doing. Second, there is a sense that the proximate cause –– is enough to bring people on to the streets, but also resonant enough to pose wider questions about how the Chinese state operates.
The Chinese government says this is because it prioritised life over the economy, keeping deaths down to below 6,000 compared with the millions in the west.