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Protests in China, which began as a protest against the quarantine policy, are spreading across the country.
At first, slogans such as "freedom instead of corona testing" came out, but now they are changing to "China does not need an emperor" and demand the resignation of the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.
It has even been evaluated as the largest political unrest since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Shanghai's 'Urumqi Street' becomes a symbol of resistance in a place of remembrance
The aftermath of a high-rise apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in which 10 people died on the 24th, is striking all over China.
Suspicions arose that fire suppression was delayed due to the containment-type quarantine policy, but Urumqi authorities held an emergency clarification conference in the middle of the night and made remarks that seemed to blame the victims rather, raising anger.
On the night of the 26th, a memorial rally for the victims began on the 'Urumqi Street' in Shanghai, China's largest metropolis.
People gathered around a road sign marked 'Urumqi Street'.
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Candles were lit, harmony gathered, and a time of remembrance followed.
Slogans such as "freedom instead of corona testing, freedom or death" began to burst out among the crowd, which had grown to hundreds.
The protests started to intensify as the police arrived to take control.
Eventually, slogans such as "Step down from the Communist Party, step down from Xi Jinping" came out.
In the meantime, residents protests against the blockade have continued in various parts of China, but it is the first time that slogans demanding the resignation of the regime have appeared.
Moreover, it is very unusual for hundreds of people to gather in a public place and shout such slogans while the police are watching.
Currently in China, you can be detained just for violating the quarantine policy, but it is too dangerous to shout anti-government slogans like this.
The Shanghai protests continued until dawn the next day, the 27th.
On the same day, student rallies were held at Tsinghua University and Peking University, two famous universities in Beijing, and rallies are spreading to major cities such as Chengdu, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Nanjing.
Shanghai authorities demolish even 'Urumqi Street' road signs
As public sentiment turned unusual, it was known by citizens that the authorities removed Shanghai's 'Urumqi Street' sign in the middle of the night last night, carried it away, and abandoned it in a faraway place.
As 'Urumqi Street' became a place of remembrance and a symbol of resistance, the road signs seemed uncomfortable.
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However, citizens are rather ridiculing, saying, "Now even the road signs are afraid."
Furthermore, the 'Urumqi Street' road sign image is spreading on social media.
Some people have also been seen printing road sign pictures and attaching or carrying them to the meeting site.
The response of the authorities, who even removed the road sign to prevent the spread of protests, turned the road sign into a symbol of protest.
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'Friedman Equation' appeared at Tsinghua University student rally
The 'Friedman Equation' appeared at a protest rally by students of Tsinghua University, a famous university in Beijing.
The sight of equation symbols printed on white paper held by several students attracted attention and raised curiosity.
Alexander Friedman, a former Soviet mathematician and physicist, is famous for presenting the 'Friedmann Equation', a mathematical model of the theory of the expanding universe.
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Why Tsinghua University students picked up this equation and why they revealed it is not known, but it is giving rise to various speculations.
One of the interpretations that are evaluated as persuasive is 'pronunciation'.
It is an interpretation that Friedmann's pronunciation is similar to 'Free的 man', expressing the demand for freedom in this way.
Another interpretation is that as Friedman's equation is related to the expansion of the universe, it means that the current protests in various parts of China will spread further.
It is not yet known which interpretation is correct, but there are responses saying that it is fun to protest smartly like students of the prestigious Tsinghua University.
In fact, the reason Tsinghua University students protested with the Friedman equation was probably fear of censorship and punishment.
This is because you may be caught by the public security authorities and severely punished if you listen to phrases containing objections, protests, or criticism of the quarantine policy.
"It's just a white piece of paper"
The protest method that the Chinese found to avoid censorship and punishment is the 'blank demonstration'.
They protested with nothing but white paper.
Citizens holding blank papers have been witnessed not only in Shanghai, but also in Beijing, Chengdu, Sichuan, and Guangzhou, all over China.
Even the words 'blank paper movement' and 'blank paper revolution' are coming out.
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There was also a student who printed and pasted a message on a university bulletin board saying, 'This is just a blank sheet of paper'.
In this paper, there is also the phrase "I say, I am going to say, I am speaking", but the content of what I am trying to say is blank.
In a way that ostensibly says nothing, it's telling more.
It paradoxically conveys the current situation in which criticism of government policies cannot be freely expressed.
"China does not need a lifelong system and an emperor"... Public security authorities in a hurry
The Chinese public security authorities began to arrest even the citizens holding the white paper without saying anything.
It is also heard that the school authorities confiscated several sheets of white paper with nothing written on them in the bag of the college student.
There is no clear and specific legal basis for banning and entraining, but even a blank protest was blocked for the reason that 'tried to collide with others'.
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Citizens filming the protest scene with their cell phones were also prevented, and the BBC correspondent at the scene was handcuffed and taken away.
As if the sign of Shanghai's 'Urumqi Street' was just removed, the public security authorities' will to block any possible expression of dissatisfaction can be read.
However, it can also be seen as evidence that the public security authorities have become so embarrassed and urgent.
When even small expressions of opinion became subject to censorship and punishment, slogans of 'freedom of speech, freedom of expression, democratization' began to emerge at the protest site.
Furthermore, in Chengdu, a large city in the western Sichuan province, a video was released shouting, "China does not need a lifelong system. China does not need an emperor."
It is a direct and intense criticism of the current regime, which has removed the limit on three consecutive terms as president and paved the way for President Xi Jinping to remain in power for life.
They say they control social media, but all the protesters knew
Contrary to the fact that the world media rushes to the spread of protests in China and treats them as major news, there is not a single line of related reports in Chinese media.
Protest videos posted on social media in China are also being deleted one after another.
It is very common for videos of rallies and demonstrations critical of the government to be deleted in China.
All videos of recent events, such as the Beijing banner incident with slogans such as “food instead of lockdown, freedom instead of corona inspection” and the Chongqing warrior incident that shouted “Give me freedom or give me death,” have all been deleted, and media in China really Not a single line was articled.
However, the crowd at the protest site is chanting the same phrase as the slogan that appeared in the Beijing banner incident and the Chongqing warrior incident.
In the meantime, the video of the past incident has been deleted and not even reported, but it means that all the people who know were watching, listening, and thinking again.
If so, it can be seen that the currently spreading protest situation is being delivered to many Chinese citizens through social media control.
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China's major state media, including the People's Daily, did not publish any articles related to the protests today (28th), but emphasized 'precise quarantine' through editorial format.
It seems to mean that it will alleviate the dissatisfaction of the majority of the public by relieving the inconvenience of daily life caused by the containment policy.
However, it seems that it is still unknown whether it will be able to prevent the spread of protests that have already spread to demands for political freedom of expression and democratization.