CCP Tightens Security After Protests

On November 28th, CCP police stopped and searched citizens at the sites of protests in Shanghai and Beijing after weekend protests against the Zero-Covid policy.

There was reportedly no sign of new protests in Beijing and Shanghai the next day, but dozens of police officers were spotted in the areas where the demonstrations took place. Police has required people to present their phones to check for the virtual private networks (VPNs) and the Telegram app, which have been used by weekend protesters but were banned to be used in Communist China. In addition, CCP authorities had barricaded some areas in central Shanghai to prevent any more rallies. Shops and cafes in the areas were asked to close, and the locations near the sites of protests are being strictly monitored for any sign of political instability.

Some analysts believed that the demonstrations would not immediately threaten the existing political order, but the CCP’s current Zero-Covid and lockdown policy were no longer politically sustainable. Moreover, rating agency Moody’s Investor Service expected the protests to potentially have negative impacts on credit if they sustained and provoked a more forceful response from the authorities. On November 28th, the offshore RMB has briefly fallen below 7.25 against the USD, stock market was plunging by 500 point within a day.