On November 27, 2022, Chinese leader Xi Jinping was faced with Chinese citizens spread across the country in multiple cities, protesting against poor covid control, also known as his zero-covid strategy.

In Shanghai, one of the major cities, protesters gathered to shout about Xi Jinping’s removal, telling him to “step down. . . step down, communist party!” as seen on CNN, written by the Beijing Bureau and Nectar Gan.

These protests followed a deadly fire that occurred in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, which seemed to be a setting-off point for cities, causing them to express their rage over the zero-Covid strategy. Videos spread on the internet, which suggested that the zero-Covid strategy delayed firefighters from reaching the victims. 10 citizens died in that fire. 

 Zoya Qureshi gave more information on December 1, 2022, stating that The country’s zero-COVID policy may have been to blame, as first responders were apparently restricted from accessing the scene. Heavy-handed quarantines and endless testing are causing much harm, including food shortages and widespread unemployment.

“But they’re also keeping China’s COVID death toll very, very low. . . As protesters call on the government to loosen up. . .” which can be explained further in-depth by The Atlantic. 

The zero-Covid policy is claimed problematic for the sole reason that a diagnosis of Covid can cause a lockdown, which happened the day of the fire. The city had been on lockdown for more than 100 days, according to Jessi Yeung on CNN on November 29, 2022. That day, residents of Urumqi could be seen on social media marching to government offices, demanding an end to the lockdown. Local government officials claimed they would lift lockdown restrictions in stages, but haven’t provided any information on when they would take action, nor have they addressed the protests. This seemed to entice the public even more, because the protests then spread across the country to more than 17 different cities, including the capital Beijing. 

Furthermore, people could be seen gathering on Urumqi road to mourn those who lost their lives in the fire. Many people held up white signs or wore white masks, to represent their lack of freedom of speech and the censorship issues China has. Over the course of the last few weeks, citizens have still been protesting for the end of zero-Covid, and for the start of political freedoms. Some protests have taken place on campuses, holding white signs and hoarding flowers in respect to the victims of the fire. 

These protests have seemed to be a shock for government officials because the residents of China have rarely protested, but it’s now clear that they no longer wish to be under the control of the communist party, and wish to have more freedom in their country.

Most people have considered this to be a turning point in China, and suspect that the protests won’t stop until their demands are met.