China’s ‘A4 revolution’ spreads to London and the world

excessive pandemic prevention; ending the zero-Covid policy; the release of protesters; and protecting the human rights enshrined in the Constitution.

On the evening of 27 November, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in London to mourn the victims of China’s zero-Covid policy and to express support for the ‘A4 revolution’. Similar protests took place on the same date in cities across the world, including Liverpool, Boston, Osaka and Auckland.

e mourning and protest were directly prompted by the Urumqi re which had occurred three days before. Draconian lockdown rules prevented some residents in a burning building from escaping and delayed re engines. Ten people died in the re.

During the protest, sheets of A4 paper were distributed and held over one’s head. ‘A4’ stands for the protestors’ four demands, which are as follows: allowing public mourning of victims of e blank ‘A4’ paper also symbolises everything Chinese people want to say yet cannot. e Beaver was present at the protest. At the door of the embassy, people chanted “Xi Jinping, step down” and “CCP, step down”. Some used loudspeakers to read out black humour poems and voice their protest. Among them, a student who claimed to be born and raised in China said, “I know now what political awakening is: it is a moral awakening.” e street was quieter opposite the embassy, where candles were lit and shielded from the rain.

An LSE student at the scene, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I didn’t wear a face mask because I wanted to be responsible for my political stand. Some approached us and suggested we should wear one, as there were people recording the protest

LSE Director hosts rst fully

Town Hall Since Pandemic

Alan Nemirovski Features Editor

On 28 November, the LSE Directorate, including various Pro-Directors and Director Minouche Sha k, met with students at the Shaw library for their termly student town hall. is is the rst student town hall hosted in person since the COVID-19 pandemic.

A er a welcome from Director Minouche Sha k, two new members of the LSE Directorate were introduced: Professor Emma McCoy, appointed as Pro-Director (Education) in October 2022, and Dr Mark E Allinson, who was appointed as the rst Director of Student Experience at LSE.

e rst topic raised by students in the town hall was current teacher strikes. e LSE Directorate continued to stress that the strikes are a national issue and that while LSE participates actively, they remain a small actor in national negotiations. When asked about compensation for students due to strikes, Director Sha k commented the School has yet to determine if