Late on 27 November, book editor Cao Zhixin, who was about to turn 26, attended a protest near Beijing’s embassy district with some of her friends. It was an impromptu decision that accidentally made him the most public display of defiance in a generation, as well as the state’s coercive response.
was billed as a rally Vigil for victims of a fatal fire In an apartment building in the west of China that was under COVID-19 lockdown. Ms Cao and her friends brought flowers and candles and sang “farewell”, the traditional Chinese lament, along with the crowd.