#coronavirus protests

[heavenhatesme]

For the times I was afraid to go out.

For the times I couldn't wear what I liked.

For the times I couldn't afford to buy a scarf I didn't even want.

For the times I had to take a detour to avoid morality police.

For Iranian women, for Iranian people!

Stand with us and be our voice!💚🤍❤️🕊

[thejackrandahotel]

Hi tumblr.. Please pay some attention to the incident happened in my country China, city Urumqi, Xinjiang. The city was blocked for more than 100 days due to the epidemic, which seriously affected people's life. On November 24, a fire broke out in a community in Urumqi, but the firefighters were unable to put out the fire in time because of the blockade. In the end ten People died, including a 3-year-old child. Last night (11.25) the people of Urumqi finally took to the streets out of despair and anger. They went to the city hall to march and protest, and confronted the police. This was extremely brave but also very dangerous.

Chinese Internet is extremely closed, and all content posted online is subject to examination and control. We are trying our best to convey this message to more people.

I'm very sorry if I disturbed you all, but if possible, please give the people of my country a little international attention and support, thank you😢If you need more content please check this twitter account:

I am really desperate and terribly worried for people of Urumqi right now and I hope this incident could reach to more people around the world. Thank you.

[corvidaescreations]

In case your government and employer are trying to convince you to go back to the office and leave the masks at home.

[bikerlovertexas]

[commonsensecommentary]

“At what point will our increasing reliance on technology rob us of some essential part of both our autonomy and humanity—or have we already unknowingly crossed this threshold?”

[memenewsdotcom]

China signals possible end to zero-covid

China signals possible end to zero-covid

[the-juicymango]

Big Blow to China as lockdown protests spread to campuses and cities abroad

Big Blow to China as lockdown protests spread to campuses and cities abroad

Protests against China’s strict zero-COVID policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities worldwide in solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China over the weekend. According to a Reuters tally, expatriate dissidents and students staged small-scale vigils and protests in cities around the world, including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney. In most cases, dozens…

[unpopularly-opinionated]

It is asinine how many tiktok videos I’ve seen from locals throwing out any and every excuse under the sun to push the blame for why Portland is in the state it’s in away from the protests or the homeless.

I actually just saw someone’s video where she made all these snarky remarks about “oh no, what will we do if mom and pop stores like Walmart go out of business” AS IF SHE WAS EVEN MAKING A POINT because I KNOW she’s referring to the fact that a couple weeks ago it was on the news about how Walmart was leaving “the city” due to rampant theft, as she’s walking in the heart of Portland. You know where these Walmart stores were? On like the furthest edges of what you could reasonably call Portland. Frankly, they were nowhere near actual Portland, but because Portland encompasses a lot more than just the central city, it’s still considered Portland. She may as well be trying to connect a store closure in Sherwood with Portland for all that’s worth. Actual mom and pop businesses are still shutting down all the time, but here she is pretending like it’s only the big bad businesses that were impacted.

Then she had the gall to say “Let me ask you this, what do you think’s made all the people work from home, the pandemic or the protests?” relating it to the fact that all of the businesses were closed…except this is a blatant false equivalence. The question you should be asking isn’t “what made everyone work from home”, it’s “what made all the businesses close down”, and the answer was quite literally both. She acts like businesses weren’t shutting down in droves immediately prior to the pandemic due to all the riots.

Prior to the pandemic, protests were rampant in the city, and it’s quite frankly a disservice to protest to even be calling them protests. They were riots, and they were terrorizing the city, destroying property left and right, and driving everyone out of the city. Even without the aid of the government fucking over every small business in the country, these riots nearly did in every small business here. The few that survived were graciously rewarded with government overreach that forced most of the survivors to shutter their businesses or massively pivot their entire business strategies (if even possible). Not to mention, the riots only exacerbated the homeless issue because dozens of those rioters decided to have a little camping trip in the middle of the city for weeks on end, which only further trashed the city, drove people away, and encouraged the homeless encampments that Portland is quite literally still battling on a daily basis.

And the saddest thing is that even though the riots and pandemic have since stopped (for now), this isn’t a problem that we simply spring back from. Businesses that are closed are closed for good. Jobs lost are lost forever. The echos of these problems are still being seen on a regular basis as more and more people are struggling to keep afloat. Don’t get me wrong, the astronomical rent prices are also a pretty big fucking reason for why people are fleeing Portland in droves. But to sit here and pretend like the riots and the homeless aren’t equally—if not more damaging to the overall livability of the city is just downright disingenuous and deceitful. Fuck out of here with your false equivalency bullshit. Nobody who is complaining about Portland is doing so for the sake of Walmart, or Starbucks, or REI, or whatever big ass corporation you feel the need to divert people’s attentions to. Fuck off with your bitching about union busting when you’re talking about why the city is in the state it’s in.

[helloiamausacresfan]

Gwen B. with #LC / @PenGwenWithLC on Twitter: "

Something worth supporting for the entire #MECFS and #LongCovid community! #MillionsMissing #NotRecovered Please share and get involved as you are able!"

Link to #MEAction site and further information on the event:

[heavenhatesme]

This fight didn't start because the people are hungry, not because they are unemployed, not because they have no hope, no future, not because the corruption is out of control, not because the people in power have stolen all the money from oil, gas, ressources. No. It started because one 22 year old girl Mahsa Amini died for not covering her hair. It started for women. Now Men are out there fighting, risking their lives shoulder to shoulder with women. Their mothers, wives, friends, lovers, sisters and daughters. This is the world we need. Everyone standing up, for each other. Against oppression, against ignorance. Long live the spirit of Iran which never dies. Long live this country and its people. After hundreds of years of oppression, they still have a heart of gold that burns in dignity and caring love for one another. Long live people of Iran🇮🇷🕊

🔴Trigger Warning for the video🔴

[panicinthestudio]

China: Video shows BBC journalist's arrest during Covid protest, November 28, 2022

Video shared on social media shows the moment BBC journalist Edward Lawrence was arrested by Chinese authorities while covering an anti-lockdown protest in Shanghai. Lawrence was dragged away by police shouting "Call the Consulate, now." Protests over Covid restrictions have spread to several cities across China and were triggered by a deadly fire at a residential high-rise building in the city of Urumqi, in the country's western Xinjiang region. Videos of the incident posted on social media led to accusations that lockdowns were a factor in the blaze that killed 10 people

The Guardian

Further reading:

The Guardian: Clashes in Shanghai as protests over zero-Covid policy grip China, November 28, 2022

The Guardian: BBC says Chinese police assaulted and detained its reporter at Shanghai protest, November 28, 2022

The Guardian: Protests erupt in China over strict zero Covid measures: in pictures, November 28, 2022

“He was held for several hours before being released,” a BBC Press Team statement said of Lawrence’s treatment by Shanghai police on Monday. “During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police. This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist… We have no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the offices who later released him that they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught Covid from the crowd.”

The public service broadcaster added that it did not consider the police explanation to be credible.

HKFP: China protests: Shanghai police assaulted and arrested journalist, says BBC, November 28, 2022

[cyarskaren52]

Biiiiiiiitch What? Thousands of people were dying a day in NYC, emergency rooms were overflowing. The maskless were perfecting fine with spreading Covid, and I practically had an anxiety attack every time I went to the store. And there’s outrage over the police in Minnesota killing black men in front of perma traumatized children and teenagers. The teenager who filmed the murder still traumatized from seeing the wickedness in front of her. This is what you wanna go back to ? Three years later? Biiiiiiiittttttttttcccccvh what?????

[bikerlovertexas]

[commonsensecommentary]

“Our inability to solve our many problems is a direct result of the insular extremism—promoted daily by liars, bullies, and nut jobs who revel in their power and influence—that today passes for intelligence.”

[chaddavisphotography]

A protester with a wagon full of PPE for other protesters during a march shortly after Biden won the United States Election.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As frustrated demonstrators take to the streets across China to protest the government's draconian COVID-19 restrictions -- prompting rare civil unrest and clashes between the public and officials -- the Biden White House is choosing its words carefully and deliberately.

Top US officials who have been closely monitoring the unrest in China have made two things clear in the past few days: that the Biden administration supports any people's right to peacefully protest and that it simply does not see China's so-called zero-COVID policy as a sound approach.

But administration officials have been careful not to step beyond the contours of those public comments, carefully stepping around broader questions about the US's assessment of the situation or its potential future role in supporting the Chinese people's cries for more freedom.

That sensitivity and caution is in no small part a reflection of the deeply complicated -- and tenuous -- place that US-Chinese relations currently stand. The two countries' relationship had reached its lowest point in decades this year, with tensions fueled by the standoff over Taiwan, economic disputes and other areas of disagreements.

A senior US official emphasized to CNN that the White House is being careful not to overstate the nature of the protests, noting that while there have been some calls for Xi Jinping to step down, as of now, most of the protests in the country of over one billion people seem small, localized and aimed more at the narrow goals of ending the COVID lockdowns and securing better working conditions than a loftier push for democracy.

"We have to be very careful of not creating a distorted reality," the official said.

A historic bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi earlier this month on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia -- the first in-person meeting between the two men since Biden took office -- was aimed at marking a starting point of sorts in trying to strengthen those strained relations.

And while that meeting, which spanned more than three hours, hardly resolved some of the longest standing issues between the two superpowers, Biden and top officials made clear afterward that there was general agreement on the importance of keeping lines of communications open between Washington and Beijing -- and finding area of common ground.

"It was not an easy meeting," another senior US official told CNN, "but they both understood that they represent countries with very different views of the world, which need to manage competition responsibly." Other officials said the US and China relationship at least now had a "floor," with both countries in relative agreement on issues like climate change and the danger of Russia using a nuclear weapon.

This week, the White House has insisted that the administration intends to continue building on that progress.

"There's been no change to our desire to continue to see these channels of communication stay open, and we were heartened coming away from the G20 that both leaders were able to agree on getting some of these working-level discussions back open," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in the White House briefing room on Monday.

The first senior US official said that there have been "zero concessions" to China since the Biden-Xi meeting took place, but acknowledged that both countries have backed into their respective corners when it comes to openly hostile rhetoric — a deliberate approach to avoid a continued deterioration in relations.

A separate senior administration official said, however, that, "To us, this is not about the US-China relationship. This is about the fundamental right of peaceful protests and the ability of the protestors to speak for themselves. We are watching this closely."

Asked by one reporter whether the protests in China may mark a moment for the US to "more forcefully" advocate for freedom and democracy -- particularly given how forcefully Biden has spoken out about the important distinction between autocracy and democracy both at home and abroad -- Kirby responded: "This is, I think, a moment to reassert what we believe in when it comes to free assembly and peaceful protest."

"And we've done that and will continue to do that," Kirby continued, "whether it's people protesting in Iran or China or anywhere else around the world."

What Kirby didn't mention was that Biden himself has weighed in much more forcefully on the unfolding protests in Iran -- even saying at a campaign event earlier this month: "We're going to free Iran. They're going to free themselves pretty soon."

Officials argued to CNN, however, that in the White House's view, the protests in Iran and in China are not comparable, at least for now. In Iran, the regime is routinely killing protesters, who themselves are fighting for a largely unified goal: an end to the Islamic Republic, following the deaths of women in the custody of Iran's so-called "morality police." Still, White House officials do view the protests in China as remarkable because they are evidence that Beijing's total information blackout is cracking, a senior official said.

Asked to elaborate on how the US is weighing the protests in China given the context of the tenuous Washington-Beijing relationship -- and what role the US believes it might play as people in China call out for more freedom -- one senior administration official said it would be best, for now, to leave the answer to that question of: "We are watching this closely."

DIFFICULTY ASSESSING SCOPE OF PROTESTS

While Biden administration officials have been closely monitoring the situation on the ground for several days, one US official acknowledged it was still difficult to assess the scope and scale of what was taking place on the ground. The early stage nature of the protests, along with the inherent unpredictability of such events, has played a role into the nature of the response, the official said.

But so, too, has the concern that, shared by several top senior Biden national security team officials, that appearing to lean toward the protesters would actually have the effect of undercutting what's taking place. The concern that Chinese officials would use any US response as an effort to paint the protests as a malign foreign effort to undermine China has been a closely considered factor, a senior administration official said.

White House officials have kept explicit and intentional distance from the more fiery calls from protesters related to Xi and the communist party. There is no plan to shift that position, part of an implicit acknowledgment of a reality that carries bilateral and geopolitical consequences of enormous significance.

Still, the White House has continued to monitor events closely -- and Biden has been kept regularly updated -- as US officials attempt to assess how the protests will progress and, perhaps more importantly, how Chinese officials will respond should the effort grow in size and intensity.

US officials have declined to weigh in on what actions, if any, would be taken if a particularly harsh crackdown comes in the days or weeks ahead. "We're not doing hypotheticals right now," one official said. "We're watching closely and just don't have anything more than that."