Tokyo Demonstration In Support of China Protests Against President Xi Jinping's Zero-Covid Policy

Tokyoites, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, Uyghurs and Chinese dissidents protest outside Shinjuku Station against President Xi Jingping and the governing Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) draconian Zero-COVID policy after a fire in an Ürümqi, capitol of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, high rise building killed 10 people. The incident sparked the largest wave of civil unrest across China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square Pro-Democracy movement as protesters claim residents were locked into their homes by authorities enforcing strict COVID mandates. Chinese authorities deny these allegations and claim that parked cars delayed firefighters from accessing the building. A blank piece of paper has become the defining symbol of the movement in protest of censorship measures and restrictions of freedom of speech, as the signs technically say nothing legally seditious of the Communist Party.

Discontent with increasing authoritarianism in China amid the COVID-19 pandemic reached a boiling point after strict lockdowns in Shanghai and major cities forced Chinese citizens to be confined to their homes, even without food, and has blocked many Chinese university students living abroad from returning home for over three years. Despite leading an unpopular 2-month lockdown of Shanghai, Li Qiang was recently promoted by President Xi to the No. 2 spot on the seven member Standing Committee governing the nation.