Chinese citizens are feeling empowered after protests against “draconian COVID-19 restrictions” led Chinese authorities to relax regulations, a human rights researcher told Fox News.
“People are fed up with the restrictions,” said Yaqiu Wang, senior Chinese researcher for Human Rights Watch. “There is so much pent-up anger and frustration that there have been massive human rights violations because of the restrictions, not because of COVID itself.”
Demonstrations erupted 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 protest in China is useless because the government is too powerful,” Wang said. “But this is an example of the fact that if you really go out and ask for what you want, you get it, or at least you get some of it.”
Chinese officials eased COVID-19 restrictions after Chinese citizens in several cities protested the country’s strict “zero-COVID” policy that led to citywide lockdowns, mandatory COVID-19 testing and mass quarantine . Beijing has changed course on strict policies to help quell protests because the “zero-COVID” approach is putting a strain on residents, according to a Tiananmen Square protester.
Protesters hold candles as they march in Beijing after nationwide COVID-19 protests.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
“This has to be understood in the context of three years of draconian covid restrictions,” Wang said. To enter a hospital, grocery store or corporate office, Chinese residents “must show a negative result.”
“Some people had medical emergencies, but they couldn’t go to the hospital because they couldn’t leave their apartment, and some of those people died,” Wang continued.
WATCH: CHINESE CENSORS MIXED WITH A WAVE OF PROTEST VIDEOS; PROTESTANTS LEARN OF “SOPHISTICATED” LOOPS.
When asked whether the Biden administration supports the rights of Chinese citizens to protest, Secretary of State Antony Blinken replied, “Of course we 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 vent their frustrations,” Blinken said.
Despite Chinese authorities easing restrictions, surveillance and crackdown on protesters have been tough, according to Wang.
Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Chinese protesters feel strengthened after officials eased some COVID-19 restrictions.
(Fox News Digital/Jon Michael Raasch)
“I’ve heard of sources who have told me they’ve walked into protest scenes and thought they were anonymous,” she said. “But later they were visited by the police.”
“They went to the protest site yesterday and were visited by the police today,” Wang continued. “The police were operating quite efficiently.”
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Wang said he believed his sources were traced by police using surveillance footage or through the location services in their phones.
Regardless of police enforcement, residents see the authorities easing restrictions as 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,” she said. “You are depressed because you cannot control your destiny.”
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“People take great risks to protest in China,” Wang said. “In a sense, the government is responding.”
“It’s an empowering feeling,” she continued.
To watch the full interview with Yaqiu Wang, click here.
