- What remains of the protests?
- BRI alternative comes into focus
- Skoda considers withdrawal
- Berlin worried about police stations
- First C919 for China Eastern Airlines
- Jimmy Lai sentenced again
- EU signs Lithium deal with Chile
- Heads: Robin Mallick – Director of the Goethe-Institut
- So To Speak: dog fashion
Several participants in the white-paper protests have been visited by police officers in recent days. Some have been identified from video footage. But posts on social media also point the way to the protesters. The Internet forgets nothing. Their digital footprints could now pose a threat to the mainly young protesters.
But this young generation has also learned that it can make a difference. How will the demonstrations affect the Chinese people’s understanding of politics? Marcel Grzanna spoke about this with Chinese exile Wang Longmeng, who experienced the crackdown on the democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989 as a student. Wang is certain: “We see new hope on the horizon of an autocratic China.” Even interrogations and arrests cannot stop this process, Wang said.
Meanwhile, work is underway in Brussels to breathe more life into Global Gateway. The infrastructure initiative, which is supposed to rival the BRI, runs the risk of being a complete failure. A large part of the announcements were previously planned development projects. A real task force is needed to drive Global Gateway forward, explains Romana Vlahutin. The EU official was in charge of connectivity at the European External Action Service. She feels: More is possible.
Amelie Richter
Feature
Beijing after the protests: arrests and changes
China’s government gave in to pressure from the street. True, it was only about one issue, zero-Covid. But the success of the white paper protests means more than the end of citywide lockdowns. The young generation has learned a remarkable lesson in recent days: It can influence the policies of authoritarian state power.
Is this a generation that will raise its voice in the future to express political dissent? Will it even become a threat to the Communist Party’s grip on power? “What we are observing is the awakening and maturation of a generation. We see new hope on the horizon of an autocratic China,” says Chinese exile Wang Longmeng, who witnessed the suppression of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement as a student in 1989 and later fled to France.
Exiles hope for a new democratic movement
Wang is certain that the arrests of participants in the protests are merely delaying a development, that ultimately cannot be stopped. “The waves of democracy are like the waves of oceans. When one recedes, an even bigger one rushes in,” Wang said. He draws another comparison: “China under Communist Party rule is already on the brink of a crater and can fall into it at any time.”
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