World Cup 2022: Australia parties at 3am as unheralded Socceroos silence the doubters - BBC

Host nation: Qatar Dates: 20 November-18 December Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app. Day-by-day TV listings - Full coverage details

It was 3.18am in Melbourne when Mathew Leckie slotted past Kasper Schmeichel - and those who had stayed up went wild.

Flares lit up the darkness in Fed Square, and suddenly you could forget that football - or soccer - is, at best, the fifth most popular sport in Australia.

Leckie's goal meant Australia stunned Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark 1-0 in Qatar to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

While that Socceroos side was filled with generational Australian talent playing for top European clubs, far less was expected of this squad comprised of domestic A-League regulars, along with players from the Scottish Premiership and English Football League.

The one solid link between 2006 and 2022 is the manager, Graham Arnold. He was assistant to Guus Hiddink 16 years ago, when Australia were only stopped by eventual champions Italy via a 95th-minute penalty.

Arnold told BBC Two after the final whistle: "I'm so proud of the effort. There was a short turnaround but their effort was incredible.

"These boys come in with a great mindset. We've been working on this for the last four years about the belief, the energy and the focus. I could see in their eyes, they were ready tonight."

It is quite the turnaround for Arnold, after an unimpressive qualification campaign in which they scraped through an inter-confederation play-off against Peru on penalties to secure their spot in World Cup Group D alongside world champions France, as well as Denmark and Tunisia.

Still questions surrounded Arnold, however the idiosyncratic Aussie has never lacked in self-belief and has now guided his country into the last 16 - not that he will be allowing any of his players to enjoy it yet.

"No celebrations!" he said. "That's why we won after a great win against Tunisia. No celebrations, no emotion, sleep, and no social media."

This message had not quite filtered through to Australia match-winner Leckie when he spoke to BBC Two straight after the game.

He said: "I'm proud, exhausted, everything. Hard to describe the emotions right now. We always believed as a group we could do it.

"We had our doubters but with our spirit, our belief, our work ethic and how close we are as a group, it shows on the pitch. That last 15-20 minutes, we battled until the end and it didn't matter what they threw at us. We weren't conceding.

"We'll make the most of it tonight but then it's all about recovery because we've got another coming up."

The doubters will have looked at the make-up of this Australia team, which on paper has none of the star power of 16 years ago.

Germany 2006 saw an Australian team featuring Liverpool's Harry Kewell, captained by Mark Viduka and with Mark Schwarzer in goal, both of who had just played in the Uefa Cup final for Middlesbrough. Tim Cahill, at 26, was in his prime.

The Australian team at Qatar 2022 has no Premier League footballers, and eight from the comparatively less well-regarded A-League compared to three domestic-based players in 2006.

There is more a sense of a new generation coming through for Australia. Arnold has nine players under 25 in his squad, compared to three in 2006.

But on Wednesday in Qatar, it was the experienced names who stood up to be counted. Leckie, 31, scored his 14th international goal - six more than the next highest.

Former Brighton and Arsenal goalkeeper Ryan won his 76th cap against Australia, the most in the squad. The captain made a fine save from Mathias Jensen in the first half, and he calmed nerves late on in the second, scrambling to clear a ball behind with his feet after a 94th-minute defensive mix-up.

The star of the show, however, was Stoke defender Harry Souttar. With him, Australia kept a second consecutive World Cup clean sheet, having had only one in 17 finals matches previously.

He made nine clearances - more than double any other Australian player - and won 13 of 17 duels, seven on the ground and six in the air. No wonder a sign in the crowd demanded he win the next Ballon d'Or.

It all came after Australia, for two-and-a-half minutes, looked to be heading out of the World Cup. That was the period of time between Wahbi Khazri giving Tunisia a shock lead against France, and Leckie finding the back of the Danish net.

Tunisia's win meant Australia needed to do the same, and an as-it-stands table was displayed in the Al Janu Stadium after Khari's goal showing both Australia and Denmark as eliminated.

Whether or not it solely inspired Australia into life can be debated - but Leckie produced the game's only real moment of magic to send his country through.

Another sign in the crowd asked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to authorise a public holiday if the team won. Either way, it should be expected not many of those in Fed Square at 3.18am made it into work.

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2022-11-30 19:45:52Z
1675402229

Oath Keepers: Two members of far-right militia guilty of US sedition - BBC

Reuters

By Max Matza & Nadine Yousif

BBC News

The leader of a far-right militia has been found guilty of plotting to stop US President Joe Biden from taking office after the 2020 election.

A jury found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy following a two-month trial.

He plotted an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Mr Biden, prosecutors said.

Four more were on trial with him related to the 2021 Capitol riots.

Three of the group - Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson - went inside the building during the attack.

Meggs was also found guilty of seditious conspiracy on Tuesday. Both Rhodes and Meggs now face a maximum 20-year sentence on the charges.

Harrelson, Watkins and a fifth member, Thomas Caldwell - were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy.

All five of the group members were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Rhodes, who prosecutors say acted as a "battlefield general" during the riots, was also found guilty of tampering with documents or proceedings. He was acquitted of two other conspiracy counts.

The verdict comes after three full days of jury deliberation.

Speaking outside the courthouse following the verdict, lawyers for Rhodes said they were not pleased with the outcome, but that it wasn't a clear-cut victory for the prosecution either.

"It's a mixed bag," said lawyer Edward Tarpley, adding he was grateful the jury found the defendants not guilty on some counts.

They intend to appeal against the convictions.

How I escaped my father's militia

The son of Stewart Rhodes spent years planning to escape along with the rest of his family. How did he rebuild his life outside of the militia world?

Read the full story here

This was the first conviction of seditious conspiracy in the US since 1995, when 10 Islamist militants were convicted for trying to plant bombs at New York City landmarks.

The Civil War-era charge was first enacted to stop residents of southern states from fighting against the US government.

In order to be convicted of seditious conspiracy, prosecutors must prove that two or more people conspired to "overthrow, put down or to destroy by force" the US government, or that they planned to use force to oppose US authority.

Alan Rozenshtein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and a former US Department of Justice lawyer, said the conviction of Rhodes was significant because it shows that a seditious conspiracy charge is "a viable and legal path for punishing the most serious anti-democratic conduct" in the country.

He added the mixed verdict proved that juries were able to apply the conviction responsibly.

The verdict was also a confidence boost for the justice department in their quest to prosecute more people in relation to the Capitol riots, Mr Rozenshtein said.

• Who are the Oath Keepers and why are they on trial?
• US Capitol riot Oath Keepers case goes to jury

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 in a bid to thwart certification of Joe Biden's election victory.

So far around 900 people in nearly all 50 states have been arrested for taking part in the riot.

During the Oath Keepers trial, the court heard the defendants stashed dozens of weapons in a hotel room in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC, and planned to bring them into the city in the event of mass civil disorder.

Defence lawyers argued that the fact the weapons were never used - or even brought into the city - bolstered their argument that the Oath Keepers were on a purely defensive mission, intending to protect protesters and keep the peace inside and outside the Capitol.

The jury also heard that Rhodes was taking phone calls and messages outside the Capitol while the riots were ongoing. Some messages seen by the court show Rhodes telling his followers to "rise up in insurrection".

The Oath Keepers were founded by Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer. Over the past decade, members have shown up at a number of protests and armed standoffs across the country.

Among the defendants, two, Meggs and Harrelson, are from Florida, Watkins is from Ohio and Caldwell is from Virginia. Rhodes is from Texas.

More Oath Keepers members, along with members of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, will go on trial later this year.

In the last century, another famous storming of the US Capitol also led to successful seditious conspiracy convictions.

In 1954, four nationalists from the US island territory of Puerto Rico fired shots onto the floor of the House of Representatives, wounding several lawmakers.

The attackers, as well as more than a dozen other members of the group, were found guilty of sedition.

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2022-11-30 01:49:15Z
1670682345

Oath Keepers: Two members of far-right militia guilty of US sedition - BBC

Reuters

By Max Matza & Nadine Yousif

BBC News

The leader of a far-right militia has been found guilty of plotting to stop US President Joe Biden from taking office after the 2020 election.

A jury found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy following a two-month trial.

He plotted an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Mr Biden, prosecutors said.

Four more were on trial with him related to the 2021 Capitol riots.

Three of the group - Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson - went inside the building during the attack.

Meggs was also found guilty of seditious conspiracy on Tuesday. Both Rhodes and Meggs now face a maximum 20-year sentence on the charges.

Harrelson, Watkins and a fifth member, Thomas Caldwell - were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy.

All five of the group members were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Rhodes, who prosecutors say acted as a "battlefield general" during the riots, was also found guilty of tampering with documents or proceedings. He was acquitted of two other conspiracy counts.

The verdict comes after three full days of jury deliberation.

Speaking outside the courthouse following the verdict, lawyers for Rhodes said they were not pleased with the outcome, but that it isn't a clear-cut victory for the prosecution either.

"It's a mixed bag," said lawyer Edward Tarpley, adding he is grateful the jury found the defendants not guilty on some counts.

They intend to appeal the convictions.

How I escaped my father's militia

The son of Stewart Rhodes spent years planning to escape along with the rest of his family. How did he rebuild his life outside of the militia world?

Read the full story here

This was the first conviction of seditious conspiracy in the US since 1995, when 10 Islamist militants were convicted for trying to plant bombs at New York City landmarks.

The Civil War-era charge was first enacted to stop residents of southern states from fighting against the US government.

In order to be convicted of seditious conspiracy, prosecutors must prove that two or more people conspired to "overthrow, put down or to destroy by force" the US government, or that they planned to use force to oppose US authority.

Alan Rozenshtein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and a former US Department of Justice lawyer, said the conviction of Rhodes is significant because it shows that a seditious conspiracy charge is "a viable and legal path for punishing the most serious anti-democratic conduct" in the country.

He added the mixed verdict proves that juries are able to apply the conviction responsibly.

The verdict is also a confidence boost for the justice department, Mr Rozenshtein said, in their quest to prosecute more people in relation to the Capitol riots.

• Who are the Oath Keepers and why are they on trial?
• US Capitol riot Oath Keepers case goes to jury

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 in a bid to thwart certification of Joe Biden's White House election victory.

So far around 900 people in nearly all 50 states have been arrested for taking part in the riot.

Another famous storming of the US Capitol also led to successful seditious conspiracy convictions.

In 1954, four nationalists from the US island territory of Puerto Rico fired shots onto the floor of the House of Representatives, wounding several lawmakers.

The attackers, as well as more than a dozen other members of the group, were found guilty of sedition.

During the Oath Keepers trial, the court heard the defendants stashed dozens of weapons in a hotel room in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC, and planned to bring them into the city in the event of mass civil disorder.

Defence lawyers argued that the fact the weapons were never used - or even brought into the city - bolstered their argument that the Oath Keepers were on a purely defensive mission, intending to protect protesters and keep the peace inside and outside the Capitol.

The jury also heard that Rhodes was taking phone calls and messages outside the Capitol while the riots were ongoing. Some messages seen by the court show Rhodes telling his followers to "rise up in insurrection".

The Oath Keepers were founded by Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer. Over the past decade, members have shown up at a number of protests and armed standoffs across the country.

Among the defendants, two, Meggs and Harrelson, are from Florida, Watkins is from Ohio and Caldwell is from Virginia. Rhodes is from Texas.

More Oath Keepers members, along with members of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, will go on trial on seditious conspiracy charges later this year.

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2022-11-29 23:49:01Z
1670682345

Oath Keepers: Two members of far-right militia guilty of seditious conspiracy - BBC

Reuters

The leader of a far-right militia has been found guilty of plotting to stop US President Joe Biden from taking office after the 2020 election.

A jury found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy following a two-month trial.

He plotted an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Mr Biden, prosecutors said.

Four more were on trial with him related to the 2021 Capitol riots.

Three of the group - Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson - went inside the building during the attack.

Meggs was also found guilty of seditious conspiracy on Tuesday. Both Rhodes and Meggs now face a maximum 20 year sentence on the charges.

Three of the group members - Harrelson, Watkins and Caldwell - were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy.

All five of the group members were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Rhodes, who prosecutors say acted as a "battlefield general" during the riots, was also found guilty of tampering with documents or proceedings. He was acquitted of two other conspiracy counts.

Supporters of then-President Trump, a Republican, stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 in a bid to thwart certification of Joe Biden's White House election victory.

So far around 900 people in nearly all 50 states have been arrested for taking part in the riot.

The verdict comes after three full days of jury deliberation. The panel in Washington DC met once before taking a weekend break for the Thanksgiving holiday, before meeting for two more days this week.

• Who are the Oath Keepers and why are they on trial?

This was the first conviction of seditious conspiracy since 1995, when 10 Islamist militants were convicted for trying to plant bombs at New York City landmarks.

The Civil War-era charge was first enacted to stop residents of southern states from fighting against the US government.

In order to be convicted of seditious conspiracy, prosecutors must prove that two or more people conspired to "overthrow, put down or to destroy by force" the US government, or that they planned to use force to oppose US authority.

Alan Rozenshtein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and a former US Department of Justice lawyer, said the conviction of Rhodes is significant because it shows that a seditious conspiracy charge is "a viable and legal path for punishing the most serious anti-democratic conduct" in the country.

He added the mixed verdict proves that juries are able to apply the conviction responsibly.

The verdict is also a confidence boost for the justice department, Mr Rozenshtein said, in their quest to prosecute more people in relation to the Capitol riots.

Officials argued that Rhodes stashed dozens of weapons in a hotel room in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC, and planned to bring them into the city in the event of mass civil disorder.

During the trial, defence lawyers said that the fact the weapons were never used - or even brought into the city - bolstered their argument that the Oath Keepers were on a purely defensive mission, intending to protect protesters and keep the peace inside and outside the Capitol.

Among the defendants, two are from Florida, one is from Ohio and one is from Virginia. Rhodes, the accused ringleader, is from Texas.

Another famous storming of the US Capitol led to successful seditious conspiracy convictions.

In 1954, four nationalists from the US island territory of Puerto Rico fired shots onto the floor of the House of Representatives, wounding several lawmakers.

The attackers, as well as more than a dozen other members of the group, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy.

The Oath Keepers were founded by Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, and has sought to attract to current and former members of the US military and law enforcement.

Over the past decade, members have shown up at a number of protests and armed standoffs across the country.

More Oath Keepers members, along with members of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, will go on trial on seditious conspiracy charges later this year.

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2022-11-29 23:07:17Z
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Ukraine war: Nato pledges to provide more weapons and fix power grid - BBC

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

By Jaroslav Lukiv

BBC News

Nato has pledged to give more weapons to Ukraine and help fix critical energy infrastructure badly damaged by massive Russian missile and drone strikes.

At a summit in Bucharest, the secretary general of the military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, accused Moscow of "trying to use winter as a weapon of war".

The Russian strikes have left millions of Ukrainians without electricity and running water in freezing temperatures.

Ukraine has for months been asking Nato for more advanced air defence systems.

Under the Geneva conventions, attacks on civilians, or the infrastructure vital to their survival, could be interpreted as a war crime.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's prosecutor-general told the BBC that the Russian attacks amounted to genocide.

At a gathering in Berlin, justice ministers of the G7 group of wealthy nations said they would co-ordinate investigations into alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine.

"Judicial examination of the atrocities committed in Ukraine will take years, perhaps even decades. But we will be well prepared - and we will persist for as long as it takes," said German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann.

Russian President Vladimir Putin - who ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February - and other senior Kremlin officials deny the allegations that Russian troops are committing war crimes.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska told lawmakers in the UK Parliament in London that Ukrainians were going through a terror similar to that experienced by the UK in World War Two, when Nazi Germany bombed cities in the blitz.

"Victory is not the only thing we need, we need justice," Mrs Zelenska said, adding she "came to you for justice, because it will lead to the end of this war".

Speaking at the start of the two-day gathering of Nato foreign ministers in the Romanian capital, Mr Stoltenberg said: "Russia is actually failing on the battlefield. In response to that they are now attacking civilian targets, cities because they're not able to win territory."

His words were echoed by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said that Russia was aiming to "freeze the Ukrainians into submission".

EPA

Later on Tuesday, Nato issued a statement that said Russia's persistent attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy grids were "depriving millions of basic human services".

Nato members would assist Ukraine in repairing its energy infrastructure and protecting people from missile attacks, the statement added.

And appearing at a joint news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Mr Stoltenberg said: "We will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes, we will not back down.

"We realise that it is extremely important that President Putin is not able to win in Ukraine. That will be a tragedy for Ukraine, but it will also make the world more dangerous and much more vulnerable."

Meanwhile, Mr Kuleba said that last time he met senior Nato officials his three words were "weapons, weapons, weapons".

"Today I have three other words, which are faster, faster and faster. We appreciate what has been done, but the war still goes on. Decisions on weapons and production lines have to be made faster," Mr Kuleba added.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Rainsalu later told BBC World Service's Newshour programme that Nato needed to give missiles to Ukraine that can hit inside Russian territory.

"The most logical way to help them is to give them the capabilities to effectively get into these places from where the missiles are launched.

"All options should be on the table... there should be no red lines or caveats… we should not make any limitations," Mr Rainsalu said.

The US-led Nato alliance has repeatedly ruled out supplying longer-range missiles and other such weaponry to Ukraine, amid concerns that this could lead to a major escalation with a nuclear-armed Russia.

In Ukraine, energy workers across the country are continuing their daunting task of repairing power and water supplies to millions of people, amid warnings that Russia maybe preparing a new wave of missile attacks.

The country's power operator Ukrenergo said on Tuesday that 30% of the country's electricity needs were still currently not being met, and power rationing would continue.

Winter is setting in in Ukraine, with snow and sub-zero temperatures in many regions.

There are fears that people across the country could die of hypothermia.

More on the Ukraine power attacks

• Why millions of Ukrainians have no power as winter nears
• The race to rebuild infrastructure in Kherson
• Has Putin's invasion of Ukraine failed?

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2022-11-29 20:56:30Z
1663329080

Janusz Walus stabbed in South African prison - BBC

AFP

By Farouk Chothia & Nomsa Maseko

BBC News

The far-right gunman who killed South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Chris Hani has been stabbed in prison, officials say.

The stabbing of Janusz Walus comes days before he was due to be released on parole after nearly 30 years in jail.

He was allegedly stabbed by another prisoner and is in a stable condition.

Walus, 69, shot Mr Hani in 1993 in a failed attempt to derail South Africa's transition from white-minority rule to democratic rule.

The killing still evokes deep emotions in South Africa. Mr Hani was regarded as the most popular politician after anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.

South Africa's government and Mr Hani's widow Limpho vigorously opposed Walus's attempts to gain his freedom.

But in a ruling on 21 November, South Africa's highest court ordered his release within 10 days, saying the justice minister's refusal to grant him parole was "irrational".

• BBC Africa Live: Updates from around the continent
• Anger after South African hero's monument trashed

In a brief statement, the prison department said it could confirm the "unfortunate stabbing incident" involving Walus.

Healthcare officials were providing him with the "necessary care", it added.

The BBC understands his attacker tried to stab him in the heart.

The attack came after a monument in honour of Mr Hani was vandalised on Saturday at the cemetery where he is buried.

The governing African National Congress (ANC) and its allies described the incident as a "provocative attack", and "tantamount to a continuation of Chris Hani's assassination in the grave".

The vandalism should be seen in the context of the court's ruling, which had "pleased unrepentant apartheid perpetrators", the ANC said, in a statement issued jointly with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

Walus killed Mr Hani as he picked up the newspapers outside his home in April 1993 by shooting him at point-blank range.

Walus was arrested and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life after South Africa abolished the death penalty.

The 50-year-old anti-apartheid fighter was the leader of the SACP and a senior member of the ANC's military wing.

Walus is a Polish immigrant whose South African citizenship was revoked in 2017.

Some South Africans have called for his deportation to prevent civil unrest.

However, the government has ruled it out, saying he would serve his parole in South Africa.

White-minority rule in South Africa ended in 1994, with Mr Mandela becoming the country's first black president.

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2022-11-29 17:33:01Z
1664897792

China Covid: Chinese protesters say police seeking them out - BBC

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By Yvette Tan & Emily McGarvey

BBC News, Singapore and London

People in China who attended weekend protests against Covid restrictions say they have been contacted by police, as authorities begin clamping down.

Several people in Beijing said police had called demanding information about their whereabouts.

It is unclear how police might have discovered their identities.

On Tuesday officials renewed a promise to speed up efforts to vaccinate older people. Vaccination rates among elderly people are relatively low.

China has recorded record numbers of new cases in recent days.

Over the weekend, thousands in China took to the streets demanding an end to Covid lockdowns - with some even making rare calls for President Xi Jinping to stand down.

But on Monday, planned protests in Beijing did not happen after officers surrounded the assembly point. In Shanghai, large barriers were erected along the main protest route and police made several arrests.

The demonstrations began after a fire in a high-rise block in Urumqi, western China, killed 10 people on Thursday. Many Chinese believe Covid restrictions contributed to the deaths, although the authorities deny this.

Asked whether the protests would prompt a change to zero-Covid rules, an official said China would continue to "fine tune and modify" its measures.

"We are going to maintain and control the negative impact to people's livelihoods and lives," said Mi Feng, a National Health Commission spokesman, at a press conference.

• How China's Covid protests are being silenced
• China sticks with zero-Covid: Why?
• Blank paper becomes the symbol of China's protests

On Tuesday morning, police could be seen in both Beijing and Shanghai patrolling areas where some groups on the Telegram messaging app had suggested people should gather again.

A small protest in the southern city of Hangzhou on Monday night was also quickly stopped with people swiftly arrested, according to social media footage verified by the BBC.

Reports also say that police were stopping people and searching their phones to check if they had virtual private networks (VPNs) set up, as well as apps such as Telegram and Twitter which are blocked in China.

One woman told news agency AFP that she and five of her friends who attended a protest in Beijing had received phone calls from police.

In one case, a police officer visited her friend's home after they failed to answer their phone and asked whether they had visited the protest site, stressing that it was an "illegal assembly".

Another told Reuters that they were asked to show up at a police station to deliver a written record of their activities on Sunday night.

"We are all desperately deleting our chat history," one Beijing protester told Reuters. "Police came to check the ID of one of my friends and then took her away. A few hours later they released her."

Police have also detained journalists covering the protests in recent days. News agency Reuters said one of its journalists was briefly detained on Sunday before being released.

BBC journalist Ed Lawrence was also held for several hours while covering a protest in Shanghai on the same night. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his detention was "shocking and unacceptable", adding that Britain would raise concerns with China about its response to the protests.

Getty Images

But overseas Chinese have continued protesting, in at least a dozen cities across the world.

Many also gathered outside Chinese embassies in major cities around the world like London, Paris and Tokyo, and universities in the US and Europe.

One expert suggested that local protests were not likely to die down any time soon, saying they were likely to "ebb and flow" because people were "not being called out to the streets in a controlled fashion... they move between social media and the street".

But Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore, added that it was also important to note that Chinese police had "tremendous capacity... [and] the ability of China to control these protests going forward... is quite high".

Censorship has gone into overdrive on Chinese social media platforms since the weekend's protests, to stop people seeing and discussing them.

Tens of millions of posts have been filtered from search results, while media are muting their coverage of Covid in favour of upbeat stories about the World Cup and China's space achievements.

It's a vastly different scene on Western social media platforms, which some Chinese people have taken to to share information including advice for protesters to avoid arrest.

One account on Instagram - a platform which is blocked in China and accessible only through a VPN - published a "safety guide for friends in Shanghai and across the country" and included tips like wearing dark coloured clothing for anonymity and bringing along goggles and water in the event that tear gas is fired.

Adhering to a zero-Covid policy

Chinese officials have implied that complaints over China's tough Covid curbs were a result of "arbitrary measures" rolled out at a local level, rather than as a result of national guidelines.

"[There is an] over practice of containment measures [in some localities]... that is not aligned to national policies," said Cheng You Quan of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration at Tuesday's press conference.

"Local governments should show more responsibility and follow national guidelines, [instead of following practices like] arbitrarily stopping schools and industry. We should name and shame as well as pursue criminal responsibility if necessary. Lockdowns should be quick and the removal of lockdowns should be equally quick."

China remains the only major economy with a strict zero-Covid policy, with local authorities clamping down on even small outbreaks with mass testing, quarantines and snap lockdowns.

While China developed its own Covid vaccines, they are not as good as the mRNA technology - such as the Pfizer and Moderna shots - used elsewhere.

Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine gives 90% protection against severe disease or death versus 70% with China's Sinovac.

The vaccines have also not been given to enough people. Far too few of the elderly - who are most likely to die from Covid - have been immunised.

There is also very little "natural immunity" from people surviving infections as a consequence of stopping the virus in its tracks.

It means new variants spread far more quickly than the virus that emerged three years ago and there is a constant risk of it being imported from countries that are letting the virus spread.

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2022-11-29 11:31:35Z
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