Spencer Thomas/ Staff Reporter
Ten people died in a building fire in western China on November 24. People believe the deaths were caused by the Covid-19 lockdowns, set by the Chinese government, trapping residents in buildings, The Chinese government denies. Heavy lock downs in China started in 2019 and continues to this day.
Protests have begun to change restrictions and government policies. The protests started during the last week of November. Members in the protests have anger towards Xi Jinping, “making rare calls for President Xi Jinping to stand down,” according to a BBC article from November 29.
In a result of a week full of historical protests, China has started changing Covid-19 protocols after December 1. Cities have changed from mass testing and mass lock downs to positive and close contact isolation. Experts say more change is coming for China.
Protests on November 30 had videos come out showing the mass amount of people protesting for change. Protesters burned items to honor the people who died in the fire and stand for justice.
Chinese police patrolled an area in Beijing and Shanghai where planned protests were going to start on November 29. Police found where protests were to start by looking into protesters group chats on Instagram and telegram. The first protesters to arrive were arrested. After protesters were arrested their phones were being searched for VPNs and illegal apps, like twitter and telegram. Police were calling and visiting protesters asking if they had attended the “illegal assembly”, so they could get more information on the “crime”.
Chats were being deleted and phones were being reset by protesters to protect their lives. “We are all desperately deleting our chat history.” said a protester who was interviewed by Reuters News agency.
New strategies to bypass online censorship and safety while protesting have been created, in result the world is receiving more information. As of December 5, a small number of videos have been released to Canadian public, because Chinese government have kept protests secret.
Protests have risen throughout the world in Europe, North America, and Asia. Major cities and schools are speaking up like London, Paris, Tokyo, and some United States universities have all stood with protesters in China.
After the deaths of the 10 people in the building fire protests started. China has arrested their own people for wanting to have justice and freedom. Change is to come in China. Protests starting around the world have come up to assist the Chinese people.