The India Story | China Covid protests: Xi Jinping regime backed into a corner?

Not being able to leave your house for work, shortages of medicines, and going hungry if food can’t be delivered - many of the hallmarks of Covid-affected lockdown life are now a thing of the past in most of the world. But not in China.

China’s ‘zero Covid’ policies have kept its population in lockdown for nearly three years - and they are at breaking point. Widespread anger over the curbs has led to the CCP facing the boldest and most emphatic protests China has seen in years. Along with an end to the curbs, some protesters are now beginning to demand more - like democracy, and freedom.

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Xi Jinping has staked his personal authority on ‘zero Covid’, which his autocratic regime cannot afford to back down from. As calls for him to step down are heard on the streets of China’s major cities, has the government backed itself into a corner it can’t get out of? Are the protests a turning point in China’s history - or will they fizzle out under a strict clampdown from authorities?

In this week’s episode of The India Story, Vikram Chandra discusses the situation in China with leading international experts. Catch The India Story live on Fridays at 8PM.