How a blank piece of paper became the symbol of China's protests

Young people protesting harsh COVID-19 restrictions in China have held aloft the most innocuous of objects: a blank sheet of paper.

The big picture: Blank signs were previously displayed during the Hong Kong protests in 2020 and the demonstrations in Russia earlier this year against the invasion of Ukraine. As one protester in Beijing told Reuters, "The white paper represents everything we want to say but cannot say."