A wave of protests, among other reasons, finally prodded the leader to scrap the strict lockdown system.China’s containment measures had come at a high cost, cutting sharply into its exports and retail sales, draining local finances and driving parts of the population to a near-breaking point.
Protests that engulfed China quickly faded as the government made a U-turn on its strict Zero-COVID policies, even as police sweeps of demonstrators have left families where their vanished loved ones are. Still, the "Blank Paper Revolution"'s cry for democracy may have quietly left its mark.