- Kerry Allen
- BBC Monitoring
image source, Getty Images
Without the ability to express themselves, many are looking for new ways to make themselves heard in China.
China’s censorship machine is doing everything possible to prevent its citizens from having access to images of the protests that have broken out in various cities across the country.
The demonstrations spread over the weekend to the four corners of the country in response to the strict anti-covid measures that have been in force since the start of the pandemic, almost three years ago.
Since then, the list of censored words in internet Referencing the protests is increasing, and the authorities are trying to divert attention to other issues on national and foreign platforms.
The protests, which are unprecedented in decades, began after 10 people died in a fire last week in the city of Urumqi. Many believe that residents were unable to escape the fire due to covid restrictions, something authorities have denied.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities over the weekend, many of them protesting with a blank paper as a symbol of everything that they are not allowed to say in a country where censorship is strict and criticism of the Communist Party or its president, Xi Jinping, is usually paid for with jail.
Some dared to call out for Xi’s resignation, something practically unprecedented in China. Many of those who participated in the protests were arrested.
Although the situation calmed down on Monday, some protesters say they have been contacted by the police to find out if they participated in the “illegal concentrations”. The police deployment in the streets of the country has been reinforced, but on social networks some continue to call new concentrations.
As is often the case with protests in China, even the smallest ones, the Chinese media have not mentioned them. Information about the covid outbreak that the country has suffered in recent days has also been silenced, and the media have chosen focus on upbeat stories as China’s latest achievements in space.
Images of the protests, which have been posted on social media such as Twitter and widely shared internationally, are being ignored by state media.
A growing list of forbidden words
To prevent people from talking about the latest anti-covid protests, the words “Shanghai” and “Urumqi”, cities where residents have demonstrated, have been added to a list of search terms censored by platforms such as Weibo, the most Chinese folk.
If before, the search for these terms returned tens of millions of results on the platform, now only a few hundred appear.
image source, EPA
Censorship extends from the streets to the internet.
In an attempt to circumvent censorship, many citizens have begun to use terms such as “white paper” and “A4”, in reference to the white pages that have become a symbol of the protests. But now even these terms are being censored on Weibo.
Far from being discouraged, the most creative users of social networks are finding new ways to show their solidarity with the protesters. Now, for example, they talk about “A3” paper, or they mention some of the trends that at other times have been successful in the networks and that mention the word paper, such as the “A4 waist challenge” (in the that some women compared their waist to a sheet of A4 paper).
Many Chinese users have turned to foreign social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, to surface messages and images about the demonstrations, even though they are blocked in mainland China and can only be accessed with software known as a VPN.
Abroad, some Chinese citizens have also organized protests in front of their country’s embassies, lighting candles and holding up blank sheets of paper.
These are images that the Communist Party would rather not see, especially by Chinese citizens living abroad.
image source, AFP
Some protesters have chosen to display symbols of the protests, such as the Urumqi street sign in Shanghai, at the gates of Chinese embassies abroad.
One of the consequences that have been observed since the beginning of the protests is the large-scale attempt to flooding platforms like Twitter with gambling and pornographic content using the hashtags #Urumqi and #Shanghai, to try and prevent people from searching for images of the protests.
China has done it before. During the 2019 Hong Kong protests, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube claimed to witness a coordinated effort by the government to spread disinformation on their channels, leading to the removal of hundreds of accounts and posts.
While state media seem intent on ignoring the protests for now, there are beginning to be signs that they are trying to blame foreigners for the riots, something that could spread if the protests intensify.
In fact, on social networks some are already accusing foreigners western feed the protests.
State media have repeatedly criticized the West for its looser rules on Covid-19, warning against countries adopting what they call “American rhetoric”.
However, images of the World Cup in Qatar, where the rest of the world can be seen celebrating without restraint, have fueled the anger of many Chinese this week. In response, state broadcaster CCTV’s coverage is avoiding showing viewers enjoying matches without a mask.
China has also relaxed certain measures against covid 19 since the beginning of the month. The duration of quarantines has been reduced and entry into the country has been facilitated for people who come for short periods of time.
As a consequence, this could make it easier to blame foreigners for the spread of the virus. Cases have skyrocketed to record levels in recent weeks, with more than 40,000 registered this Monday.
But, with no clear horizon on the end of China’s zero covid policy, further protests are to be expected.
Lockdowns have increased in the past month, as anyone who tests positive and their close contacts must go into strict quarantine, something that hasn’t changed since the early stages of the pandemic. Frustration among people only increases.
It would not be the first time China has blamed the West for dissent at home. In the 2019 Hong Kong demonstrationsthe last major protests to have taken place in China, were blamed on “violent extremists” influenced by “Western lackeys”.
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