[News Terms] Why Do Chinese People Use 'White Paper Protests'?

During a memorial service for the Urumqi fire disaster held in Beijing, China on the 27th, citizens protested against the COVID-19 lockdown measures. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Protests opposing the Chinese government's 'Zero COVID' policy are spreading across China. Citizens participating in the protests are holding blank sheets of paper, called 'baekji (白紙),' strongly opposing the authorities' strict lockdown measures. This is known as the 'Blank Paper Protest.' Some have even called for the resignation of President Xi Jinping. The blank paper is used as a means and symbol of resistance against censorship in China, where public criticism of the top leader is taboo.

Last weekend, large-scale protests took place in major Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Chinese citizens, exhausted by the strict lockdown policies that have continued for three years, poured into the streets, saying they could no longer endure it.

On the 24th, a fire in a high-rise apartment in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, which resulted in 10 deaths, became the catalyst for the large-scale protests. Stories spread widely on major Chinese social networking services (SNS) that the fire and casualties were worsened due to the lockdown in the apartment and that fire suppression was delayed, fueling citizens' anger. Citizens gathered to mourn the fire victims, and the protests quickly spread nationwide against the quarantine policies.

According to foreign media reports including AFP, on the night of the 27th, thousands of citizens gathered near Liangmaqiao Road in Chaoyang District, Beijing, holding blank sheets of paper and protesting. After mourning the fire victims, citizens shouted slogans such as "We want freedom, not lockdown," demanding an end to the strict lockdown policies. On the previous night (26th), citizens also flooded the streets near Urumqi Middle Road in Shanghai to protest the fire incident and oppose the lockdown policy. Reuters reported that many participants in this protest shouted slogans like "Down with the Communist Party" and "Down with Xi Jinping."

The blank sheets of paper with no slogans written on them symbolize resistance to censorship by the Chinese authorities. In China, where strict control is imposed on public criticism, citizens who can only remain silent hold up blank sheets as a form of protest. The 'Blank Paper Protest' also appeared during protests opposing the passage of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020. After the law was enacted, assemblies and protests were banned, and violent crackdowns on protesters occurred, leading Hong Kong citizens to hold blank sheets of paper in protest against the suppression of freedom of expression. In Hong Kong, silent protests expressing solidarity with citizens opposing the Chinese government's Zero COVID policy were also held.

Stephen McDonnell, BBC's China correspondent, explained on his Twitter that the reason Chinese citizens hold up blank sheets of paper is to convey the meaning of "Will you arrest me for holding a sign that says nothing?"