China erases memory of 'white paper' protests in further threat to journalism

In November 2022, thousands of people took to the streets across China to protest against the government's strict Covid-19 controls in an unprecedented wave of civil disobedience. They were thought to be the largest protests since the 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen Square demonstrations when, at its height, a million people are estimated to have gathered. It started in Shanghai with a vigil mourning victims of a deadly apartment fire in the western Xinjiang region, which saw some of the country's most intense lockdowns. At dusk, people began spontaneously gathering with candles and flowers in the city's Wulumuqi Road, named after Xinjiang's…