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Protesting works.

On Wednesday afternoon, authorities suddenly announced a lifting of lockdowns in about half of the districts across the southern city of Guangzhou. Official announcements told local officials to variously remove “temporary control orders” and to redesignate areas as low risk. They also announced an end to mass PCR testing.

This is an absolute win for the Chinese civilians.

The question is, if it’s actually going to happen or is it just propaganda to calm down foreign investors and western media.

Seems like a dangerous precedent for the CCP, responding to the will of the people. Could be considered a step on the slippery slope to democracy.

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This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 92%. (I'm a bot)

> Authorities have abruptly lifted Covid restrictions in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, where protesters scuffled with police on Tuesday night, as police searched for demonstrators in other cities and the country's top security body called for a crackdown on "Hostile forces".

> In Haizhu there had been several protests and clashes with police over the past month, and it was the site of the most recent protests in a wave of civil disobedience that escalated dramatically on Friday.

> Discontent with China's stringent Covid prevention strategy three years into the pandemic has ignited into protests in cities across the country, in the biggest wave of civil disobedience since the country's leader, Xi Jinping, took power a decade ago.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: protest^#1 China^#2 Tuesday^#3 people^#4 police^#5

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makes sense either lift restrictions or potential power loss. poo bear is smart

its not like they could trick anyone on whether there is currently a lockdown or not.

it's not the first time protests like this.. or even violent (relatively speaking, no one died) ones have achieved their goal. off the top of my head

- 2019, a city near hong kong: protests over local officials lying about building a crematorium instead of a park. Central government officials stepped in, gave amnesty to all involved, and ordered all medical bills to be paid by the state.. and I think the construction was cancelled.

- early 2010s: protests in Guangdong province over the removal of Cantonese programming from state tv. I think the change was delayed, and now, with online streaming, not a big deal.

- 2004ish: protests over a migrant worker who died in detention because he didn't have his paperwork to be in a different city. turns out, the detention centers were part of a policy from the state council and a law was never passed by the NPC to make living in another city without paperwork illegal. the supreme court unofficially ruled that the policy may be unconstitutional without a corresponding law. The policy was rescinded.

They don’t give a shit about foreign media or investors. The reason for rescinding the Covid restrictions is to pacify their citizens before things get out of hand.

Did anything happen in 1989 that might also be a template for a possible response?

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Indeed, in some places it works better than others. It took the US a month long protest filled with brutality, violence, and destruction just to put a cop in jail for killing a black man.

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I'm still convinced that the horrendous response to Covid in 2020 was mostly due to a soft power flex from China and that China saw that period as an inflection point where they seize global hegemony.

For murdering a black man. Caught on video. With tens of witnesses.

As far as I'm aware they were protesting the fact it was happening at all, and trying to get the police to reform, not to get that one guy in jail.

The protests weren't actually very successful, the aim was police reform and most places didn't see a bunch of police reform.

You could say they were somewhat successful, it certainly got a big chunk of public attention and discussion and debate. However, you need real change, not just chit chat.

The guy ended up in jail after a court case, and the court process always takes months. The courts also do not, ever, listen to things like protesters. They shouldn't.

Or they are just empty words.