China's Outspoken Generation

China's recent protests against the zero COVID policy, sparked by a deadly apartment fire in Xinjiang, are examined for their potential as a political awakening. The protests, the largest since 1989, saw some demonstrators calling for Xi Jinping's resignation. Experts Yangyang Cheng and Mary Gallagher discuss the confluence of factors driving the unrest, including economic concerns and the extreme COVID policies. While skeptical about the protests evolving into a widespread democratic movement akin to Tiananmen Square due to increased government repression and surveillance, they acknowledge a shift in the social contract and a political awakening among younger Chinese who have only known a globally integrated China. The protests may have been successful as the government quickly dropped zero COVID in some major Chinese cities.