The 'Yesterday’ project, which reports from abroad on protests in China, selected the 10 most significant collective initiatives of the past year, offering a snapshot of activism in China. It features “unsung heroes” who together defend the rights of workers, parents, students, and small businesses, often challenging the agents of repression.

Milan (AsiaNews) – Among the many analyses of the past year, an interesting perspective is offered by Yesterday, a project by a group of Chinese dissidents who report news about protests breaking out inside the People's Republic of China, posting reports about such events on Chinese social media (often quickly removed).

In a post, they say: “Bidding farewell to the stifled silence of 2024, 2025 witnessed a gradual resurgence of civil resistance in China. From farmers and workers fighting for survival, to students and parents fighting for dignity, to netizens standing up against injustice faced by others, increasingly more people chose to confront their fear and refuse silence.”

The project recently published on its website, located outside of China, the 10 most significant events of 2025, offering an interesting glimpse into grassroots activism in the vast country, highlighting the actions of “unsung heroes” banding together to defend the rights of workers, parents, students, and small businesspeople.

Below is the list of events selected by Yesterday in ascending order of relevance.

10. Poisoning Case at Tianshui Kindergarten (Gansu)

1-20 July 2025

Parents protested lead poisoning at a kindergarten involving more than 200 children caused by toxic additives in food. They accused local health authorities of trying to cover up the affair. Eventually, after police cracked down on parents, the latter blocked some main roads.

9. Delivery riders protest in Changsha (Hunan)

22-23 December 2025

Hundreds of delivery riders rallied against arbitrary entry regulations and verbal abuse at a residential complex. They blocked the compound’s gates for hours and staged a demonstration on their motorbikes in the city. The protest included group retaliation as delivery riders from the main platforms "blacklisted" the complex, preventing food delivery to residents.

8. Street vendors and city police clash in Kunming (Yunnan)

27-28 September 2025

Street vendors at the Haile World night market in Kunming resisted violent removal of their stalls and arbitrary taxes. Clashes with police and municipal officials lasted six hours. This episode symbolises the struggle for survival in the middle of an economic crisis.

7. Farmers rise against the Hainan Rubber Group (Hainan)

31 October 2025

More than a thousand farmers demonstrated against the forced expropriation of their land and the felling of their trees by the state-owned Hainan Rubber Group. The protesters besieged the company farm, smashing cars and facilities. The company was forced to pay them compensation, in a rare case of victory for protesters.

6. Yilisheng workers go on strike in Shenzhen (Guangdong)

4-12 December 2025

After a takeover and production reorganisation, the Yilisheng electronics factory imposed a "five-day, eight-hour" schedule with ultra-low wages, cutting wages to less than 2,000 RMB to force older workers to voluntarily resign so as to avoid paying them benefits. In response, 3,000 workers, mostly women, launched an eight-day general strike. Although they were ultimately forced to return to work, their unity and determination showed the enormous potential of China’s working class when it finds itself in desperate conditions.

5. Movement against forced cremation in Yun-Gui

November – December 2025

To cash in on "funeral reform," local authorities imposed forced cremation, going so far as to secretly dig up bodies. This angered people. In Xifeng, protesters chanted, "Dig up Xi Jinping's ancestral grave first," forcing officials to kneel. In several localities, the peasant movement successfully pushed back government agents, leading to the forced cremation policy to collapse.

4. Case of "Little Luoxi" and the (online) mobilisation of “digital mums”

November – December 2025

To meet surgery quotas, a doctor in Ningbo deliberately misdiagnosed a five-month-old baby girl, Luoxi, subjecting her to a risky and unnecessary operation that resulted in her death. Her mother was beaten and smeared online for demanding justice. The tragedy sparked an unprecedented movement of online digital resistance: tens of millions of users morphed into “digital mums”, breaking censorship and forcing the authorities to respond.

3. Protest at Xuchang No. 6 Middle School (Henan)

23-25 May 2025

When a school denied responsibility in connection with the suicide of a 13-year-old student, victim of humiliation and corporal punishment, thousands of students and people surrounded the establishment, clashing with police. The online slogan “Baby, we got justice for you”  became the symbol of a generation that no longer accepts to be silent.

2. Mass protests over the death of a student in Pucheng (Shaanxi)

2-6 January 2025

The death of a student, quickly classified as a "fall," and the repressive action his family sparked one of the largest protests of the year. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets, engaging in fierce fighting with police.

1. Protests in Jiangyou over legal injustice (Sichuan)

22 July - 4 August 2025

A serious case of bullying against a girl sparked mass protests after the authorities treated it nonchalantly. Faced with violent repression, demonstrators chanted "Return our democracy," marking a symbolic moment in which the protests transcended an individual legal case and became a challenge to the entire political system.

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