BREAKING: CCP announces they will ease Covid restrictions in key cities amid White Paper Protests

"Beijing has been gradually lifting lockdowns over the past few days," Hu Xijin futher reports. "Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Wed formally noted the virus' weakening pathogenicity for the first time...China is speeding up to cast aside large-scale lockdowns." Officials in Zhengzhao, where Apple's Foxconn factory is located, announced an "orderly" return to business, opening supermarkets, gyms and restauarants.

Protests have turned violent in Guangzhao, reports Patrick Fok from Hong Kong for Al-Jazeera. "The unrest marks the escalation of a movement that spread to several large cities," he said. "The latest developments come despite stern warnings against taking part in demonstrations."

"The southwestern city of Chongqing will allow the close-contacts of people with COVID-19, who fulfil certain conditions, to quarantine at home," Al-Jazeera reports. However, they also report that President Xi is unlikely to remove further restrictions, as Covid case counts are still reportedly at record levels.

This comes after the country has seen days of protests against Covid restrictions and lockdowns. The protests began after a fire in an apartment building in the city of Urumqi, which took the lives of 10, including a 3-year-old child.

It is widely believed that firefighters were delayed in putting out the blaze due to lockdown restrictions which made it harder to gain access to the building.

Protestors carrying white sheets of paper have been termed White Paper Revolutionaries, and are using the blank pages to express their opposition to censorship, to the CCP, and to President Xi Jinping.

"China Dissent Monitor, run by the US government-funded Freedom House, estimated at least 27 demonstrations took place across China from Saturday to Monday. Australia’s ASPI think-tank estimated 43 protests in 22 cities," Al-Jazeera reports.

The protests are the largest public display of anti-government behavior since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The protests also come shortly after the coronation of Xi Jinping at the national congress, essentially making the president leader of the country for life.

Sympathy protests have sprung up across the globe, with many Chinese students on American campuses expressing their support for those in China seeking liberty and freedom from a Covid-inspired tyranny that is going into 4th year.

The CCP has been aggressive in their attempts to stop the White Paper Revolution protestors, who hold up white sheets of paper to oppose censorship. Apple has appeared to help the CCP, restricting the use of their AirDrop feature, which iPhone users can use to bypass the internet and internet censors and communicate phone to phone. Protests at the Foxconn Apple factory in Zhengzhao were squashed last week as the CCP instituted Covid restrictions to keep people locked down.

The country has been imposing mass testing requirements, separating family members who test positive, including young children. These restrictions and limitations have generated increasing anger in the Chinese populace, and Covid has continued to spread, despite these measures.