Protests against China's strict COVID-19 norms & lockdown measures erupt in Tibet's Lhasa

Protests against China's stringent COVID-19 restrictions have broken out in the Tibetan city of Lhasa. According to a report by the BBC, the city has been under strict COVID-19 lockdown for almost three months. The report states that the people protesting were not ethnic Tibetans but Han Chinese who live in Tibet as migrant workers. Videos on social media depict hundreds of people protesting and clashing with the police forces. The Tibetan "Autonomous" region is one the regions that the People's Republic of China acquired after the end of World War 2 and end of the Chinese Civil war. The annexation of Tibet by the PLA led to the spiritual and political head of Tibet, Dalai Lama, escaping from Tibet and taking shelter in India. 

The strict lockdown on Tibet began as a result of China's Zero-COVID policy. The lockdown began during the first week of August all of a sudden, and as a result people in the region did not have enough time to prepare for the lockdown, as per a report by the RFA. The BBC report states that people who are protesting in the video can be heard saying that they would set off a fire if the COVID-19 restrictions are not lifted. These protests in Tibet's Lhasa are the biggest protests in Tibet since the Tibetan Uprising, which occured in 2008. 

Why is China still implementing lockdowns?

One of the reasons is that China has a significant number of elderly people and the percentage of inoculation among them has been quite low. This has led to a situation where if the lockdowns are lifted then many people might die, something Xi is concerned about as he mentioned in his address that saving lives is the priority. However, there is a cost and that cost is being paid by people who are not at risk of COVID and yet their daily life has numerous restrictions. Lockdowns are also reportedly negatively impacting the mental health of people. Many people locked down in Tibet are migrant labourers who are originally from China. They move to Tibet in search of a job and most of them are not able to work due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Image: Twitter