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Peking University (PKU), one of the most important in China, was the scene of a rare protest after the institution began to erect a barrier between students and professors to contain possible cases of Covid.
The protest took place in Wanliu, a dormitory off campus.
Given the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, the university’s board had begun building a barrier made of sheet metal that would separate students from faculty. The problem is that, although students inside the complex were prohibited from leaving the place, employees could move freely.
When the news spread on Tuesday night (17), hundreds of students gathered in protest, shouting slogans, and protesters tried to tear down part of the barrier that had already been erected. To calm tempers, the deputy secretary of the Communist Party committee at PKU, Chen Baojian, was called to speak with the students.
- After the protests, Peking University released a note announcing the cancellation of the work;
- The student affairs office invited movement leaders to dialogue with the head of the institution;
- Videos of the protests quickly spread on social media, but were taken down within hours by Chinese censorship.
This was the second large-scale protest registered at higher education centers in the Chinese capital. Earlier this month, the police were called by the board of Beijing University of International Studies (BISU).
Students started a protest questioning the effectiveness of measures to combat coronavirus on campus. They accused part of the employees of not wearing masks.
In videos online, a police officer is seen with a megaphone ordering protesters to “cooperate with the party school committee and disperse immediately”. He also threatens to “take legal action to clear the area” if the students do not obey orders.
The act was later dispersed, and the university posted an appeal to students on its website, urging the “student body to abide by Covid zero policies”.
why does it matter: Chinese universities are anti-Covid bubbles in a city that already adopts very tough policies against the circulation of the virus.
With face-to-face classes taking place as normal, several institutions have been placed under strict monitoring in Beijing since last week. In most of them, students have not been able to leave campus since the beginning of May.
Food deliveries have been banned, essential staff are required to sleep in makeshift facilities within campuses and barricades have been erected around the gates to prevent access.
what also matters
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, is scheduled to travel to China next week to investigate allegations of violations against ethnic minorities and persecution of political activists in the country.
According to Bloomberg, Bachelet is expected to start work next Monday (23), meeting virtually with foreign diplomats serving in China. She is also due at some point to visit Xinjiang, which has been criticized internationally for its detention centers for the Uighur minority, although the agenda has not been released to the press.
It will be the first time since 2005 that the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has visited the country. The trip has been in the works for years and was delayed due to the pandemic and tough negotiations over the level of access Bachelet’s team would have in Xinjiang.
China wants to expand the number of BRICS members, said the country’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It is the first time that Beijing has openly defended the idea.
The speech took place during a meeting on Thursday (19) between the foreign ministers of the bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and China itself.
For Wang, the Brics needs to be open to the entry of more developing countries. He said Beijing intends to “explore the criteria [de adesão]procedures for expansion, so as to gradually form a consensus” among the members.
The last country to join the group was South Africa, in 2010. Even so, the idea of ​​expanding the bloc is not new: recently, diplomats have raised the possibility of Argentina, Mexico and Turkey joining the group. Brazil has resisted the expansion, fearing to lose prominence with the eventual accession of new members.
keep an eye
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday (19) that China will support companies and digital platforms interested in going public at home and abroad. The second most senior official in the Communist Party hierarchy, Li promised that the government will create a “stable, transparent and fair regulatory and business environment for the digital economy and will continue to open up cross-border trade and receive foreign capital.”
why it matters: The nod to big tech could spell the end of the 2021 witch hunt. Over the past year, several companies have received billions in fines and been forced to reverse listings on foreign stock exchanges, in addition to undergoing government scrutiny as to form and location. where they stored data on Chinese citizens.
The economic slowdown may be at the heart of the Chinese CP’s decision to ease, at least for now, regulatory pressure in this sector.
to go deep
- Radar China started publishing a webseries on YouTube covering the main points of Sino-Brazilian relations. Named “Feet in Brazil, Eyes in China”, the production counts with the participation of several prominent Brazilian sinologists. (free, in Portuguese)
- The Brazil-China Business Council made available online the webinar “e-CNY: the trajectory and potential of the Chinese digital currency”. With the support of the Zhejiang University International Business School, experts discuss the strategies and results of the gradual adoption of the currency. (free, in English)
- In Cafézinho, a weekly podcast on the Shumian platform, Guilherme Campbell explains what the Map of Opportunities for Brazilian Exports in China is, a document recently produced by the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments. (free, in Portuguese)
