Issue 7: January – March 2024

Highlights

• Documented protest increased 21 percent year-on-year. During the first quarter of 2024, CDM logged 655 dissent events, a 21 percent increase over the same period in 2023. Labor protests (57 percent) were the most common, followed by those led by religious groups (10 percent), and by home buyers or owners (9 percent). The remainder were led by rural residents, students, parents, investors, consumers, activists, Tibetans, Mongolians, and members of the LGBT+ community. The top regions for protest events were Guangdong (17 percent), followed by Shandong, Henan, Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, and Zhejiang. CDM has logged a total of 5,455 cases of dissent since June 2022.

• Increased censorship on video platforms. CDM data indicates that protest-related posts on Douyin, China’s version of Tiktok, during the first quarter dropped by approximately 50 percent compared to the previous quarter. This followed an announcement in December 2023 by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) that it would launch a campaign to remove “objectionable content” on video platforms. These restrictions reduced the dissent cases CDM was able to document, especially housing protests.

• Protests over inadequate heating. CDM has documented 51 demonstrations or sign protests during the past two winters by home owners and buyers over inadequate heating in northern regions of China, such as Shaanxi, Shandong, and Liaoning. These heating issues appear to be linked to energy shortages and rising fuel prices.

• Dissent through music. In this issue, CDM examines the ways Chinese citizens incorporate music into dissent against authorities. These 29 cases include protests against COVID-19 lockdowns, social benefit cuts, and ethnic assimilation. In 5 cases, people raised rainbow flags at concerts despite restrictions on the public display of this symbol in recent years.

• Demanding justice for gender-based violence. CDM has logged 29 cases of dissent against sexual assault and sexual harassment, predominantly in the form of women publicly naming alleged perpetrators online. Over the past 12 months, women have increasingly used “real-name complaints,” a kind of symbolic protest that has been used across a range of issues in China. Most of the 29 cases compelled some form of official action, demonstrating the power of public dissent.

• The myriad ways citizens dissent. CDM has documented more than three dozen types of dissent in the PRC, such as group and solo demonstrations, protest through art, non-cooperation, cyber dissent, and contentious petitioning or lawsuits. For this issue, CDM analyzes the degree to which different groups use multiple methods to voice grievances and challenge power