Editor’s note for Thursday, October 13, 2022

Our top story today is about an isolated protest in Beijing that captured Twitter’s imagination. It’s easy to exaggerate the importance of such a protest — as The China Project’s Beijing-resident managing editor said: “If you weren’t at that bridge, you’re not talking about it or seeing it — unless you have Twitter.”

But there are other signs of discontent in China right now, even amongst the people who have prospered in the last decade: An executive from cutting-edge Chinese biotech firm BeiGene told the Financial Times that Beijing’s failure to import mRNA vaccine technology from Pfizer and Moderna was “mind-boggling,” as China’s all-encompassing COVID restrictions continue to drag its economy down. This is frank criticism of government policies from an executive at a company that has benefitted greatly from past government policies. It’s got some sting.

There are, however, no signs that Beijing has lost control. There’s plenty of grumbling, but the Communist Party and its leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 remain firmly in charge: There is no credible threat to Xi’s power, despite the fantasies that have recently been played out in the pages of some Western and Chinese overseas media outlets.

Our words of the day are the characters of the protest banner that briefly graced a ring road bridge in Beijing today:

Food not COVID tests, reform not Cultural Revolution

不要核酸要吃饭，不要文革要改革

Bùyào hésuān yào chīfàn, bùyào wéngé yào gǎigé

Freedom not lockdown, votes not leaders

不要封城要自由，不要领袖要选票

Bùyào fēng chéng yào zìyóu, bùyào lǐngxiù yào xuǎnpiào

Dignity not lies, citizens not slaves

不要谎言要尊严，不做奴才做公民

Bùyào huǎngyán yào zūnyán, bù zuò núcái zuò gōngmín