Social scientists highlight significance of the current protests in China

• Updated: November 30, 2022 – Added quote from Professor Macauley

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Protests have flared up in countless urban centers all over China on the heels of a violent clash between workers and police at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou and a fire in a residential tower in Xinjiang that killed 10 people.

Northwestern University history and sociology experts on China are available to discuss the significance of the mass protests.

Melissa Macauley is a professor of global and Asian history at Northwestern. Her most recent book, “Distant Shores: Colonial Encounters on China’s Maritime Frontier” (Princeton University Press, 2021), will be published in a Chinese translation by the China Times Publishing Co. in 2023. She can be reached at m-macauley@northwestern.edu or by contacting Stephanie Kulke at stephanie.kulke@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Macauley

“I was in Beijing during the 1989 protests and the comparisons and contrasts with that moment are uncanny. In both cases you have 1. An ongoing crisis that links protesters with the public (1989: inflation and other problems relating to the marketization of the economy; 2022: endless lockdowns) and 2. A noted leader dying in the middle of the crisis who becomes a useful tool for critiquing the Party (1989: Hu Yaobang; 2022: Jiang Zemin).

“Unlike 1989, the Party will likely nip this movement in the bud, though Jiang Zemin's death will complicate that (because it gives protesters the opportunity to gather in public for their own reasons and usurp public funeral rituals. This happened in 1989 with the death of Hu. It's unclear if that will happen in 2022, however.”

Nancy Qian is the James J. O'Connor Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences in the Kellogg School of Management. Her research seeks to understand the determinants of economic development, especially in relations to political economy and long-run growth. She can be reached by contacting Max Witynski at max.witynski@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Qian

“What is really remarkable about the current protests is that they are not only calling for an end to COVID lockdowns, but for the removal of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Secretary Xi Jinping, and even for the removal of the CCP. The demands of the 1989 protestors, which focused on different ways to improve and strengthen the Party, were much more moderate in comparison. When Xi was appointed for a third term as CCP secretary and doubled down on COVID Zero, he inescapably tied his and the Party’s legitimacy to the success of COVID Zero. It is difficult to see how the government can exit COVID Zero in a face-saving way (without high political costs). The political stakes are now higher than ever.”

Stefan Henning is a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern where he teaches undergraduate courses in anthropology and sociology. His research interests include 20th-century Chinese history, Muslim societies and religious activism. Henning can be reached at Stefan-Henning@northwestern.edu or by contacting Stephanie Kulke at 847-491-4819 or stephanie.kulke@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Henning

“The recent protests are the most serious mass mobilization since about 10,000 members of the religious group Falun Dafa surrounded the Chinese White House in April of 1999. The protests come on the heels of a violent clash between workers at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou where workers beat the police into a retreat wielding iron lances and throwing dismantled metal barricades. It was momentous that in Shanghai crowds of average residents chanted in unison, “Xi Jinping, step down!” and “Communist Party, step down!” This is a direct and explicit challenge to the authoritarian state that was previously unthinkable. Protesters also shouted, “Democracy!” and “Rule of Law!”

“This puts to rest any Western soft pedaling among those who claim that urban Chinese just want to be able to enjoy the fruits of economic growth in their private lives and have otherwise made themselves at home under authoritarian rule. The challenge to Chinese Communist Party rule is more acute as protests have flared up in urban centers all over China, including in three cities in Xinjiang, China’s extreme northwest, where a fire in a residential tower that killed 10 was the initial spark of the current round of clashes.”