China’s Blank-Paper Protests Are Only a Beginning
Citizens who suddenly recognize the nature of their authoritarian government don’t easily forget about it.
The A4 Revolution that erupted in China in the past week is not really a revolution at all, not yet at least. The term revolution implies a sustained movement aimed at overthrowing the Chinese Communist Party. At this stage, the A4 Revolution—named after the size of the printer paper held up at vigils throughout the country—is a series of scattered, spontaneous protests against the brutality and absurdity of “dynamic zero-COVID” lockdowns and quarantines. The blank sheets say nothing and everything at the same time.
These protests do not need to topple the regime to have long-term consequences. As an academic researcher, I
