White Paper Protests: This Is What Happens When People Are Tired of Being Pushed Around
White Paper Protests: This Is What Happens When People Are Tired of Being Pushed Around
Where's the outrage?
As Americans cleaned up the day after Thanksgiving and apologized to each other about drunken arguments about Christopher Columbus, a deadly fire broke out in an apartment building in western China, triggering the 'White Paper Protests' currently spreading worldwide.
Most, if not all, victims in the building would likely have escaped under normal circumstances.
But the Chinese government's 'Zero Covid' policies restricted firefighters from accessing the people trapped inside.
As a result, ten people are reported to have perished, including a three-year-old child.
As news of the tragedy circulated throughout the nation, citizens took to the streets, universities, and online communities to stand up against their communist rulers for the senseless deaths.
And the people demand more than the removal of Zero Covid laws while also calling for the Chinese Communist Party and Dictator Xi Jinping to step down from power.
Some demonstrations were peaceful, while other crowds destroyed barricades and other restrictive measures to hold down the Chinese people since 2020.
Here's a report of citizens burning down a quarantine camp in Northwest China:
While many CV restrictions have gone by the wayside in the rest of the world, the Chinese regime continues to hold a boot on their people's necks.
And the people have had enough.
Let's look at the ridiculous events and conditions that led to the White Paper Protests, the world's response, and the potential progress resulting from the uprising.
Extreme Measures
The White Paper Protests, or the White Paper Revolution as some call it, are a result of more than the tragic fire last week.
Since 2020, China's Zero Covid measures have done and continue to do more damage than the virus itself.
But the people don't have a voice in a country under extreme government censorship.
That's the symbolism behind the blank white sheets of paper that protesters hold to show unity:
When I first heard talk of 'lockdowns' kicked around in early 2020 in the US, I took the term literally.
Of course, I quickly found people could go outside, run errands and go to work, depending on their job.
Not in China.
When a communist dictatorship says lockdown, they mean lockdown.
China's Zero Covid policies keep people trapped in their homes, restricting them from getting necessities such as food or medical attention.
What you have in your house and 'fridge is what you have until they lift the restrictions.
Hope you have toilet paper.
And there's no touchless delivery with DoorDash or your local grocer.
Living in Orweillien Times
Here are a few examples of these insane measures that led to the White Paper Protests, such as this goon welding an apartment door closed:
Check out this police drone demanding that people stay inside or face the consequences.
Or how about this wall-climbing robot ensuring everyone is properly starving to death in their homes?
Imagine government agents plucking you out of a crowd and sending you to a quarantine camp indefinitely if your body temperature is slightly higher than usual:
And I’m sure these chemicals are totally safe and effective:
But hey, there’s no reason people should have the right to bear arms in 2022, right?
This stuff looks like it's right out of a movie or book, and they're only a few examples of what made it to the outside world.
Imagine what remains a secret or what we have yet to learn.
Unnecessary Death
Recently in a CNN interview, a man lost his father because he couldn't get medical attention due to a lockdown in his neighborhood.
An ambulance eventually arrived an hour later from a hospital two minutes away, but it was too late.
In China, the government locks down entire neighborhoods when potential CV cases pop up, and the man said there weren't even any confirmed CV patients in their apartment building.
They lock down even if someone might have CV.
In a country of 1.5 billion people, there are countless stories of senseless deaths like these.
And it's not easy to speak out under a strict authoritarian government with no right to peacefully assemble,
When people do physically gather, the police confiscate cell phones and delete photos and videos to keep the rest of the world from seeing what's happening:
The government even enlisted young kids to help battle the White Paper Revolution.
But regardless of drone technology or Zero Covid measures, the true power lies in the Chinese people.
Still, they'll need support from the outside world to make a difference.
Global Response from White Paper Protests
Over the past week, demonstrations popped up at universities and Chinese embassies worldwide.
Here are people gathered in New York City:
A large crowd formed outside the Chinese Embassy in London:
Here's a vigil at the University of California-Berkely:
And another in Toronto:
But some people are quiet on the matter, such as politicians and celebrities.
Here's a White House official giving as little insight as possible, only saying the White House supports the freedom to protest peacefully.
Canadian Dictator Justin Trudeau gave a similar canned comment:
Even though less than a year ago, he sicced thousands of police officers to trample on Canadian citizens peacefully protesting the same thing as the Chinese people are fighting against:
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we've heard nothing but support for Ukraine from the media, politicians, and Hollywood elites.
Sure, it’s covered in the mainstream media, but they present different angles.
For example, in the story above, CNN referred to the lockdown measures as “local government” policies.
But where is the outrage for the Chinese crimes against humanity and condemnation of the CCP?
I don't see Hollywood stars standing up or Twitter users putting Chinese flags in their user names.
But I guess it makes sense.
How can people that supported authoritarian CV measures at home denounce the Chinese government?
We don't have wall-climbing robots in the US, but it doesn't start with drones.
It starts with mandates, CV passports, and the general alienation of people.
What we see in China is just an evolved version of what people supported in the West.
Big Tech Involvement
If you noticed, many of the claims in this article are supported by videos and images from Twitter.
Fortunately, with Elon Musk at the wheel, Twitter is not censoring the documentation from China.
But that doesn't keep the Chinese government from blocking the public from accessing Twitter.
Still, western tech giants like Apple are making it difficult for the Chinese people to communicate.
Earlier this month, Apple restricted its AirDrop functionality, a peer-to-peer technology that allows iPhone users to share files with others nearby.
But in a recent software release, Chinese iOS users can only Airdrop openly for ten minutes.
Then they must revert to "contacts only" mode.
No other country has this regulation.
While Apple made this change before the White Paper Protests kicked off, it's clear the CCP requested this control as Airdrop is one of the few censorship-free modes of communication in China.
So the Chinese people have to get creative by using virtual private networks to bypass heavily censored Chinese networks known as "The Great Firewall," or communicating through dating apps, as it's been reported.
While Elon Musk might be fighting for free speech online, we shouldn't forget he has a vested interest in Chinese business as much of Tesla equipment is made in the communist country.
Of course, countless phones, toys, and gadgets are made in China, which explains why we aren't seeing the same corporate support for the Chinese people as we did with Ukraine.
As of now, I don't see the Twitter CEO condemning the CCP.
But maybe Musk has something planned. We'll see.
Future Consequences of the White Paper Revolution
While there's much to be seen, it's already reported that Xi Jinping plans to roll back some of the extreme Zero Covid measures, according to a Fox article.
Apparently, that means people will remain locked in their homes instead of being sent to a quarantine facility when testing positive for CV.
I guess you have to start somewhere.
This may be an attempt to deflect attention from China in hopes of quelling the protests, but it could also motivate protesters to keep pushing.
But whatever happens, the world needs to understand these Zero Covid restrictions and, more importantly, what happens under communist dictatorships.
People today like to think that the days of tyranny are over and that we live in an enlightened period where governments would never do anything malicious to everyday people.
Or, people at least like to think these things wouldn't happen in the United States.
But this is what humans do and have done since the dawn of civilization.
Americans don't defend the right to free speech and bear arms because we like hearing hate speech or enjoy violence.
It's because they are checks and balances against power.
We give the government freedom to arrest people, courts to lock people up, and police to take citizens' lives when necessary to protect others.
But governments must also return that respect to their people by not infringing on rights and unnecessarily harming law-abiding citizens.
And the White Paper Revolution is what happens when you push people too far.
