In China, Spirit of White Paper Protests Still Inspires

FILE - Protesters hold up blank papers and chant slogans as they march in protest in Beijing, Nov. 27, 2022. FILE - Protesters hold up blank papers and chant slogans as they march in protest in Beijing, Nov. 27, 2022. Protesters march along a street during a rally for the victims of a deadly fire as well as a protest against China's harsh Covid-19 restrictions in Beijing on Nov. 28, 2022.

On Nov. 24, 2022, a fire in a high-rise residential building in Urumqi killed at least 10 people and injured nine, sparking local protests that quickly spread across China’s cities, where people had been chafing for three years under Beijing’s draconian zero-COVID policy.