Chinese citizens feel empowered after protests against “draconian COVID-19 restrictions” prompted Chinese authorities to ease regulations, a human rights researcher told Fox News.
“People are fed up with the restrictions,” said Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “There is so much pent up anger and frustration that there have been massive human rights violations as a result of the restrictions, not because of COVID itself.”
Demonstrations broke out in several cities across China in the last days of November as residents took to the streets to protest the nation’s “zero-COVID” policies. In some cities like Wuhan, protests turned violent as police and residents clashed.
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“We often say that protests in China are pointless because the government is too powerful,” Wang said. “But this is an example that if you really go out and demand what you want, you get it, or at least you get something.”
Chinese authorities relaxed COVID-19 restrictions after Chinese citizens in several cities protested against the country’s strict “zero COVID” policy that has led to city-wide lockdowns, mandatory COVID-19 testing, and mass quarantine. . Beijing has reversed course on strict policies to help quell protests because the “zero-COVID” approach is affecting residents, according to a Tiananmen Square protester.
Protesters hold candles as they march in Beijing following nationwide COVID-19 protests.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
“This must be understood in the context of three years of draconian COVID restrictions,” Wang said. To enter a hospital, grocery store or company office, Chinese residents “have to show a negative result.”
“Some people had medical emergencies, but they couldn’t get to the hospital because they couldn’t get out of their apartment, and some of those people died,” Wang continued.
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Asked if the Biden administration supports the rights of Chinese citizens to protest, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “Of course I do.”
“We support the right of people everywhere, whether in China or Iran or anywhere else, to protest peacefully, to make their views known, to express their frustrations,” Blinken said.
Despite Chinese authorities easing restrictions, surveillance and crackdown on protesters has been harsh, according to Wang.
Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Chinese protesters feel empowered after officials eased some COVID-19 restrictions.
(Fox News Digital/Jon Michael Raasch)
“I heard from sources that they told me that they walked into the protest scenes and thought they were anonymous,” he said. “But then they were visited by the police.”
“Yesterday they went to the protest site and today they were visited by the police,” Wang continued. “The police were operating quite efficiently.”
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Wang said he believes police tracked down his sources using surveillance footage or through location services on their phones.
Regardless of police enforcement, residents feel the authorities easing restrictions is a victory, Wang said.
Chinese police officers block access to a site where protesters had gathered in Shanghai on Sunday, November 27, 2022.
(AP Photo)
“People feel very empowered because living in this very repressive country you feel like you have no say in how you are governed,” he said. “You are depressed because you cannot control your own destiny.”
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“People take great risks to protest in China,” Wang said. “In a way, the government is responding.”
“It’s a feeling of empowerment,” he continued.
To view the full interview with Yaqiu Wang, click here.
