Timeline: How China’s protests gained momentum
STORY: A timeline of how China’s protests gained momentum
Nov. 14:
Guangzhou protests
In chaotic scenes, crowds crash through COVID barriers in one of China’s largest cities
to express public anger over coronavirus curbs
Nov. 23:
Foxconn protests
Violent tussles begin at Foxconn’s flagship iPhone plant in the city of Zhengzhou
The trigger for the protests appears to have been a plan to delay bonus payments
Resentment had been brewing as workers fled the plant after tightened COVID rules
Nov. 24:
Urumqi fire
10 people are killed in a partially locked down high-rise building
The incident went viral on Chinese social media, with many believing residents could not escape
Nov. 25:
Urumqi protests
Crowds took to the streets at night in Urumqi, chanting 'End the lockdown!'
Nov. 26:
Urumqi vigil
A peaceful candle-lit vigil is held in Shanghai in which protesters commemorated the dead
Since then, protests have flared in across the country
in a wave of civil disobedience unprecedented since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago
Many protestors have held blank sheets of paper as a sign of dissent at censorship in China
At almost every site, protestors have called for an end to China’s onerous COVID prevention policies