China’s government is facing a wave of public unrest not seen in years, as people take to the streets in protest over authorities’ draconian “zero-Covid” policy – and calling for freedom more broadly.

The country’s Covid-19 restrictions have included repeated, unpredictable lockdowns on hundreds of millions of people and have been a key example of the one-party state’s authoritarian rejection of human rights.

Frustration with the policy has been bubbling online and making sporadic appearances in public for some time. Now, a deadly fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, has accelerated anger, as many believe residents died in the inferno because lockdown rules trapped them inside their homes.

In cities across China, thousands have gathered in open defiance of authorities. One survey found displays of mourning or protest at 79 universities in 15 different provinces.

In some locations, protesters are going beyond anger at Covid restrictions alone and openly calling for democracy and respect for human rights generally – and calling on President Xi Jinping to resign specifically.

At Tsinghua University, Xi Jinping’s alma mater, crowds chanted, “Democracy and rule of law!” Other slogans in protests include, “We don't want a dictatorship! We want democracy!” and “Yes to freedom!”

The risks people are knowingly taking reveal the level of anger.

As my colleague and China expert Yaqiu Wang explained in an interview with PBS Newshour in the US: “People understand, if I go protest, I can be harassed by the police, I can be detained or, worse, I could be imprisoned for years. It happened to so many people.”

“People understand that. But when you know the injustice is too much for too long, you just can’t bear it.”

No one can say for sure what will happen next in China. Will protests keep building? Will demands for freedom continue to grow?

Will the authorities listen to people or use violence against them?

People everywhere have a right to express themselves freely. People everywhere have a right to gather and protest peacefully.

The world should call on the Chinese authorities to respect those fundamental rights.

(HRW will have a Twitter Space audio discussion on this topic with our experts later today. Follow HRW for details.)

A Daily Brief reader got in touch last week to suggest two recent stories from Afghanistan that highlight the twin horrors of Taliban oppression and humanitarian catastrophe.

The first concerns the Taliban’s return to public flogging as a punishment, with at least two incidents reported recently.

One involved 12 people in Logar province, including three women, who were lashed 21 to 39 times each at a football stadium before a crowd of thousands. The other incident saw 19 people similarly beaten in Takhar province.

It is barbarity, carried out by the Taliban thugocracy.

The second key story from Afghanistan is the unfolding humanitarian disaster. The latest figures from the World Food Programme are grim, with all 34 provinces “facing crisis or emergency levels of acute food insecurity.”

Almost half Afghanistan’s population – 19.9 million people – are projected to be “acutely food insecure” in the coming months; 3.9 million children are “acutely malnourished.”

But such terms perhaps fail to capture the true horror of hunger the way a few details do, and this is what our reader wanted me to highlight.

Reliable reports say some Afghans are now giving their children sedatives to stop them crying from hunger – the medicines being cheaper than food.

Other parents are selling their daughters and organs to survive.

(This story came from a reader suggestion. Please email me or contact me on Twitter or Mastodon with your suggestions.)

Reports say the Netherlands government will make a formal apology next month for the country’s role in slavery.

It would be a major new announcement, launched in multiple locations worldwide on December 19 by prime minister Mark Rutte in the Netherlands and his cabinet ministers in Suriname and the six Caribbean islands which are, or have been, under Dutch rule.

Next year will mark 150 years since the Netherlands abolished slavery. The government had already announced it would dedicate €200 million for an educational fund to focus on increasing awareness of slavery, as well as €27 million for a museum.

A century and a half seems a long time to wait for what is basically a first step.

As my colleague Almaz Teffera has responded to the news, “Full reparations for colonial crimes should follow swiftly.”

(compiled by Lisa Maier)

• Somalia: Al-Shabab militants attack hotel popular with government officials in Mogadishu (DW) 
• Afghan women, undeterred by Taliban, secretly building network for change (Al Jazeera) 
• Mexican President López Obrador leads massive pro-government march in the capital (Le Monde, international) 
• Palestinian authority muzzles call for reform and elections (HRW) 

Sometimes, I think I’m getting better at communicating in normal terms like a normal human.

And then something happens to remind me of the weird linguistic bubble I live in.

I wanted to write something for this newsletter on “civil society.” I thought pretty much everyone understood the term as I do: civil society is the “third sector,” the social structures outside the sphere of the state and business. It’s community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), religious groups, charities, and so on.

I decided to run quick polls on Twitter and Mastodon just to be sure, but the results clearly show nearly 2 in 5 people don’t see the phrase “civil society” as I do at all, instead thinking it has a more general meaning of “people behaving politely.”

Of course, social media polls are hardly scientific, but still, I suspect many of my colleagues and friends in NGOs everywhere will be as surprised as I was by these results.

It’s a good, humbling example of just how easy it is to get too used to jargon.

A term can become completely commonplace inside a professional bubble, and we can use it every day without realizing people outside that bubble may not have any idea what we’re talking about.

Join us today for a Twitter Space conversation with experts on Turkey’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and how it impacts the European Union’s migration policies. Listen live at 17h00 CET or recorded afterward.