Tokyo [Japan]December 17 (ANI): Although Chinese President Xi Jinping succeeded in relegating women in the leadership fray at the 20th Congress, where he secured his third term, however, Xi had to bow to the protesters, who freed the nation from the strict Zero-Covid policy, writes Katsuji Nakazawa in Nikkei Asia.
The achievement is even more significant when we consider that it comes against Xi, who in October acquired maximum power at the national congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
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The perception is that Xi had no choice but to swallow his pride and make a concession, that failure to do so could have created an even fiercer movement, one calling for his resignation, Katsuji said.
At the forefront of China’s white paper protests, women held blank sheets of A4 paper.
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In reality, Xi could have used the white paper move to move away from his zero COVID policy, which was wreaking havoc on China’s economy.
Whatever the truth, change is about to bring unintended consequences. While the protests have subsided, another large-scale demonstration could be unleashed, should another intolerable situation arise.
And a precedent has been set. Protests should be able to extract new concessions; the new logic goes. In this regard, the Xi administration may have inadvertently opened Pandora’s box, Nikkei Asia reported.
A notable element of the White Paper movement was that women were at the forefront. “Those who led the movements in various parts of the country are clearly women,” said a source familiar with China’s social movements.
“Standing behind her movement is a basic argument that women’s rights must be protected.”
The argument that the inhumane zero-covid policy should be abolished, having restricted freedoms for too long, is part of a much broader position, which demands various rights, the source reasoned. And the backdrop behind all of this, the source insisted, is a drive to protect women’s rights, Katsuji said.
Photographs of white paper demonstrations in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing and other Chinese locales invariably show women at the front bravely holding up blank sheets.
Interestingly, women were also at the forefront of demonstrations held in Taipei, Hong Kong and Tokyo in support of White Paper protesters on the mainland.
This international solidarity led by women is a new phenomenon, Nikkei Asia reported.
Contemporary Chinese men tend to be conservative, sometimes unwilling to take bold action for fear of harming their ability to gain and maintain social status as well as their future job prospects.
Most Chinese women also have jobs, but there are many women who have been affected by job cuts related to the zero-COVID policy. Their demands included calls for jobs, food and basic human rights.
The white paper protests were complicated for Xi because they reflected the various contradictions that permeate China, Nikkei Asia reported.
The growing frustration among Chinese women is also due to sexual harassment and violence in the country.
Earlier this year, there was a public uproar when a video of a 44-year-old woman, held with a chain around her neck, went viral on the Internet.
Authorities in Jiangsu province arrested her husband on suspicion of abuse. After being taken to a farming village, the trafficked woman had eight children with her husband.
China has a demographic imbalance. Rural areas, especially, have been left with more men than women due to the country’s long-standing but defunct one-child policy.
The widespread kidnapping and trafficking of women to make up for the “shortage of brides” is a major social problem in China, Nikkei Asia reported.
The incident cast a new light on oppressed women across the country and sparked nationwide calls to protect their rights.
Initially, local authorities tried to cover it up, but social media calls made it impossible to ignore. As with the abolition of the zero-COVID policy, the power of the people was shown.
The white paper movement is not over; social frustrations, such as women’s rights, continue to simmer. The protests could re-emerge in the future and be even stronger, Katsuji said.
New trends are likely to link social movements across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan despite measures such as Hong Kong’s 2020 national security law.
Moreover, the impact of women on the streets stands in stark contrast to Xi’s enthusiasm for promoting women to key positions.
The 24-member Politburo, revealed at the party congress, has been condemned internationally.
Some see Xi’s disavowal of women in the leadership fray as a reflection of his lack of interest in protecting women’s rights and an apparent reluctance to give weight to their views. (ANI)
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