Students are often at the heart of protests in China
Their frustration goes beyond the zero-covid policy
From the May Fourth Movement of 1919, to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square seven decades later, university students have played a central role in China’s biggest protests. The Communist Party is therefore attuned to the risk of unrest on campuses. Under Xi Jinping it has stepped up indoctrination efforts. When Mr Xi visited his alma mater, Tsinghua University, last year, he implored students to be “confident in the system of Chinese socialism”.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Testing the party”
From the December 3rd 2022 edition
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