(The original article in Japanese was posted on December 2, 2022)

People in China has run out of patience with zero-Covid policy. Since mid-November, the record for daily new coronavirus cases has been broken day after day and as many as 20,000 regions have been under lockdown across the country. Eventually, on November 24, a fire broke out in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and 10 people were killed by the blaze. The incident of a deadly fire was widely shared on social media with comments such as “Fire engines were delayed in reaching the site due to lockdown restrictions” and this triggered street protests that have immediately spread throughout the country.

Protesters called for not only the lifting of lockdowns and the easing of restrictions on travelling, but more extensively, the removal of the current leadership, the rights for free speech and the ultimate democracy. The protests spread to the President Xi Jinping's alma mater, Tsinghua University. Many students held up blank sheets of white paper, a symbol that implied "a society that impedes free speech.”

Finally, on the 29th, China’s authorities issued a statement, targeting implicitly the demonstration movements, that they would vow to "resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces." The statement directly reminds me of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, which was fiercely crushed by the National Security Law, and also the tragedy of Tiananmen Square in 1989.

On November 30, former President Jiang Zemin died in the midst of social unrest. Will Jiang's passing at this sensitive moment affect the current situation to change? I can say Jiang has served as a certain "deadweight" for the current administration. However, it should be noted that Jiang himself set a course toward a regimented society that continues up to the present, as a successor of Deng Xiaoping who condemned the democracy movement as "riots." In that sense, the current leadership is also Deng’s genuine successor and accordingly, they will hardly ever give up the zero-Covid policy as a result of accepting the protesters’ demands, nor will they loosen the intensified crackdown on the public protests.

At the death of Jiang, President Xi said in his eulogy speech that all Chinese people must turn grief into strength and strive in unity for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." I dare not confirm what he meant by "strive" and "unity" as a means to eliminate those who dissent from his policies and thoughts just because he considered them as "hostile forces.” On the other hand, the protesters’ demonstrations were not necessarily taken place under a unified slogan toward "democratization.” Besides, it is highly likely that the public anger will gradually die down when the quarantine policy and restrictions on freedom of conduct are relaxed and daily life is restored to normal, and when people can expect to have a stable life. But if it goes on like that, we should remember the symbolic pieces of "white paper" that may be left behind. I am really worried about what is awaiting them in the road ahead.

This Week’s Focus, December 2

Takashi Mizukoshi, the President