The end of November marked the second anniversary of China’s “white paper” protest movement against COVID lockdowns in 2022. Triggered by a fire in Xinjiang that claimed ten lives, demonstrations inside China turned increasingly political. At one point crowds in Shanghai chanted for the president and Communist party general secretary, Xi Jinping, to step down.
Outside China’s borders, members of Chinese diaspora communities held rallies in support of the demonstrators inside China. Many students overseas posted messages of solidarity.
But despite being far from China, these protesters were taking serious risks. Transnational repression — authoritarian states reaching across borders to silence dissent — is on the rise, fuelled by the confluence of digital communications and the worldwide advance of authoritarianism.
