Why the Chinese are holding white A4 papers at anti-lockdown protests – What does it symbolize?

THE China follows a “zero tolerance policy” against him coronavirus and applies hard lockdown –as in Shanghai– with people dying because they are not allowed to leave their house to go shopping or for medicine. Thus, thousands of Chinese flood the streets to protest, without shouting slogans or using placards. Instead, they hold an empty white one in their hands paper A4.

In the West it may sound like a Monty Python joke, but in the land of the “Red Dragon” it has special significance, since white is a mourning colorexpresses anger and mainly used at funerals. So in a state with intense censorship and excessive state repression, the people have invented a way to express their indignation, but not provoke the anger of the authorities.

On the contrary, experts believe that mainly protest those affected by the measures for the coronavirus, with a bit more comfortable financial where calls for reforms, but not always for the “good”.

Characteristically, in the last decade there has been a serious rise in nationalism in China, resulting in the Wang Xiaodong who is considered the “godfather” of Chinese nationalism and is having second thoughts and to emphasize that “I never told them to be so crazy».