Epidemic control workers in protective suits walk in a residential area in Beijing, December 9, 2022. Credit: Kyodo via AP Images
China’s leaders always knew that they would have to abandon their zero-COVID policy eventually, and that the longer they waited, the more painful the transition would be. Yet they seemed mired in the policy, unable to leave it behind and move on. Then, an apartment-building blaze in locked-down Xinjiang killed ten people whose escape was thwarted by locked doors and blocked entrances. This sparked China’s largest anti-government protests since the Tiananmen movement of 1989 and became the catalyst for the authorities’ decision finally to begin easing restrictions.
The protests were an expression of the frustration and anger accumulated over nearly three years of aggressive lockdowns, with families stuck in their homes for months, unable to visit dying loved ones, access regular health care, or even buy food.
Compared to 1989, the government’s response was notably moderate: police dispersed demonstrations with relatively little violence, though this par
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