Jonathan Al Suwaidi in Shanghai on protests: ‘He should be allowed to show his displeasure’

over the weekend protests outside In many Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. The protests are unusual because they happen in many different cities at the same time.

In addition, many different groups in society took to the streets to criticize the central government.

According to Jonathan Heikenberg, the protests are not a matter for Westerners.

– He says it may be the Chinese people in Shanghai who are starting to tire of the restrictions of spreading the virus.

Advise not to visit certain areas

At the same time, he was advised not to visit certain areas.

– We were advised not to approach the streets where the protests are taking place. You really don’t want to be out there and show yourself in between the cameras.

Who advises you to go there, is it the authorities or your job?

– Both. The company I work for does not recommend it. We are not supposed to be there. It’s not “our fight”, we’re here to do our job.

Are you concerned about the protests and what they might entail?

– of course not. It’s not a protest in that way, they just want to show their dissatisfaction with the coronavirus situation and their zero tolerance policy here, he says and continues:

– Can’t move around as much as you want when so many things are closed. These protests are after all about what happened in Urumqi. I think they should be allowed to show their displeasure.

“its a problem”

Broad restrictions also cause problems.

– its a problem. We must test ourselves at least three times a week. We have to test ourselves to enter offices, to buy food, to enter restaurants and so on.

Can you move as you want or is life stressful?

– It’s actually quite open. Outdoors, you can move around as you wish. It’s just restaurants, shopping malls, bars, cinemas, the subway – everything that should require a code that you can only scan if you test yourself.

– The code is only valid for three days, so you have to test yourself all the time. But traveling in and out of China is a little trickier. There are often tests, and different codes in different provinces.