Echoes of 1989: where the protests go next
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Comparisons with 1989\\u2019s Tiananmen Square protests are too often evoked when it comes to talking about civil disobedience in China. Even so, this weekend\\u2019s protests have been historic. It\\u2019s the first time since the zero Covid policy started that people across the country have simultaneously marched against the government, their fury catalysed by the deaths of ten people in a locked down high rise building in Xinjiang. Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xi\\u2019An, Urumqi, Nanjing (my home city) have all seen protests over the weekend. Most of them attack the zero Covid policy, but some have called out \\u2018Down with Xi Jinping\\u2019.
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\\nAfter two days of protests, these cities, especially Shanghai, now see heavy police presence, with the authorities searching phones of any seeming troublemakers. This weekend\\u2019s burst of free speech may already have been snuffed out. Can the protestors sustain their momentum given the tight grip of the state?\\xa0
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\\nI'm joined by Professor Jeff Wasserstrom at UC Irvine, an expert on protests in the mainland and Hong Kong, and Isabel Hilton, a long time China watcher and founder of China Dialogue.
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\\nAfter two days of protests, these cities, especially Shanghai, now see heavy police presence, with the authorities searching phones of any seeming troublemakers. This weekend\\u2019s burst of free speech may already have been snuffed out. Can the protestors sustain their momentum given the tight grip of the state?\\xa0
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\\nI'm joined by Professor Jeff Wasserstrom at UC Irvine, an expert on protests in the mainland and Hong Kong, and Isabel Hilton, a long time China watcher and founder of China Dialogue.