China Governance Lab > Social Unrest in China
Social Unrest in China
First started in 2012, this project draws on multiple-sourced media reports to document and analyze social unrest cases in China.
Principal investigator:
Lynette H. Ong, Professor of Political Science,
Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.
For further information, visit SocialUnrestInChina.org
Data analysis from this project can be found in these publications:
The CCP After the Zero-Covid Fail, Journal of Democracy, 34(2), April 2023, pp.32-46.
“Reports of Social Unrest: Basic Characteristics, Trends and Patterns, 2003-12” in Handbook of Research on Politics in China, edited by David G. Goodman, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2015.
Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China, Oxford University Press and Columbia Weatherhead East Asian Institute, 2022.
“Social Unrest in China” in China and the EU in Context: Insights for Business and Investors, edited by Kerry Brown, London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2014. (with Christian Gobel)
Zero-COVID Protests
Full article: The CCP After the Zero-Covid Fail, Journal of Democracy, April 2023.
Urban-nature of Zero-Covid Protests
Urban community residents and urbanites were the two largest social groups involved in protests that took place from June to December 2022.
Anti-regime “freedom” protests emerged only in November, 2022, staged largely by students.
Size and Regional Distribution of Zero-Covid Protests
What is remarkable is the cross-regional nature of protests, which took place across a dozen coastal cities and provincial capitals.
Most protests were small-scale, attracting a few hundred participants. Those consisting of more than 1,000 participants occurred only in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
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