China continues to arrest those who participated in symbolic White Paper protests: Report

The Chinese authorities are still on an arrest spree, months after thousands of protestors raised white papers as a symbol of China’s draconian 'Zero-COVID policy'. Citing local media sources, ANI reported that the Chinese authorities are still arresting the “white paper protestors”. In November 2022, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the stringent measures imposed by the Xi Jinping administration under its Zero-COVID policy. The country was dealing with fresh cases of the deadly virus and is still struggling to deal with its repercussions. 

According to estimates, the authorities have made over 100 arrests since the November rallies. Thousands of people are still being investigated for raising their voices against the Chinese president. The protest also started fizzling out due to a lack of media attention and because of the imposition of a brutal crackdown by the Communist Party. The list of purported arrests includes demonstrators from Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing.

What was the significance of the White Paper? 

Through a blank A4 size sheet of paper, the protestors wanted to send a message to the Chinese administration. The blank sheet was used by the protestors as a metaphor for China’s censorship of dissent. The use of White paper was not a novel idea which was restricted to these protests. In 2020, the Hong Kong protests have used blank papers as well to express their frustration against mainland China. The protest in Hong Kong was so severe that the Hong Kong national security law banned protest slogans, blank paper and even plastering walls with empty post-it notes. According to CBC News, in May 1969, Blank signs were featured in a sit-in by Toronto high school students.  Hence, the blank sheet of paper remained one of the key symbols of many protests throughout history. 

With ANI inputs