Western news outlets have reduced the story of China’s protests to the youth fighting for democracy. But what’s happening in China has more to do with COVID, and how China’s strict policies over the past few years have impacted people’s lives. In China, frustration has built-up over years of zero COVID policy. While the policy has worked, and China’s COVID death toll is far lower than other countries, it’s come at a cost. From suicide rates spiking to an economy declining, what’s happening is not a cry for democracy but a frustration over how things have been handled when it comes to COVID. As people speak out against insufferable conditions, including years of social isolation, they are now protesting an end to the brutal lockdowns. The apartment fire that killed 10 people in Urumqi was the catalyst to what we are seeing now. Chinese citizens, tired and angry with increasing heavy police presence and now arrests of protestors, are starting to see China loosen COVID restrictions.