One year after protests shook China, participants ponder the meaning of the brief flare of defiance
A year ago, Li Houchen was on the streets of Shanghai, hollering “Freedom!” to protest China’s harsh “zero COVID” policy and growing authoritarianism.
He was one of thousands of people demonstrating across China in what came to be called the White Paper movement, after the blank sheets of paper protesters used to represent the country’s strict censorship controls.
Yet one year later, China has all but forgotten the protests. The state reacted quickly, breaking up the marches with arrests and threats and abruptly lifting COVID-19 controls.
The protests were a brief flare of defiance, the most direct challenge to the Communist Party’s authority in decades. For the young people who took part, it was their first protest. Now, many of them are pondering what’s next.
Today, Li lives in Tokyo, fulfilling a vow to himself to leave his homeland
