Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Current protests on the streets of China “unites people from very different contexts”, according to a senior MEP.
Reinhard Bütikofer, Chair of the European Parliament’s China Delegation, was giving his reaction to protests as the country feels its way to an exit from the pandemic.
Tackling the current unrest is seen as one of President Xi’s biggest political tests yet. Observers say the protests are a tipping point in Covid dissent, complicating a situation that is already difficult for the government.
German MEP Bütikofer said, “As thousands take to the streets in cities protesting against Covid restrictions, an exhausted nation now asks how much longer must they endure Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy.”
He was commenting on Monday on the COVID protests in numerous major cities in the People’s Republic of China.
He said, “The COVID-related protests in China over the last few days represent an extremely significant political event. Protests in China have occurred again and again and not even infrequently in recent years.
“But they had always been localized and have addressed the concerns of a specific group of citizens, such as wage demands by migrant workers or compensation demands by bank customers or farmers. The current protest movement, on the other hand, unites people from very different contexts and is taking place nationwide.”
Bütikofer added, “It remarkably includes solidarity with the victims of a fire in Xinjiang after the terrible fate of the Uyghurs had been without relevant reaction over the last six years among China’s Han population. Xi Jinping’s brutal, oppressive Zero COVID policy affects everyone and therefore unites everyone. By concentrating all power in his hands, Xi Jinping has also ensured that criticism lands directly at his doorstep. The extraordinary slogans “Xi Jinping, resign!” and “We don’t want an emperor” express this,” said Bütikofer,
“When Charles Michel visits Beijing on 1 December, he absolutely must make the protests an issue. He should repeat the offer to help China by providing European COVID vaccines. He should at the same time present an unequivocal message to Xi Jinping that the EU is prepared to put any crackdown policy towards the protests onto the agenda of international fora and to impose additional sanctions if necessary,” he said.
The MEP said, “It is not likely that Xi Jinping’s rule would be threatened by the protests as a whole. But the relationship between oppressors and oppressed in China has changed dramatically in two days. The slogan “We no longer want to be ‘the people’ (told what to do and think by the Chinese Communist Party), we want to be ourselves!” represents this change.
A source form the Communist Party of China (CPC) says, in its defense, that it “has always been putting people’s well-being in paramount position throughout its history. Chinese Communists are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for the interests of the people.”
“Safety and health are the prerequisites for human development and progress.” Xi Jinping, general secretary of CPC Central Committee stressed in a speech.
Facing the pandemic, the CPC, said the source, “gave top priority to protecting people’s life and health. Its members have acted as the vanguard. More than 39 million of them fought the virus at the front line, and more than 13 million volunteered their services. Nearly 400 members have defended others’ lives and safety at the cost of their own.”
