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In less than a month, student-led demonstrations in France against teacher shortages spread from the suburbs of Paris to the country. Protest scenes evolved from blocking school gates with trash cans to confrontations between police and citizens, cars being burned, and store windows being smashed.
During the nationwide march on October 17, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez estimated that 550,000 people participated across France, while organizers claimed that 800,000 people took to the streets. As of that day, nearly 2,400 people had been arrested during the movement. The outside world describes this movement as "Yellow Vest 2.0".
After a chaotic weekend, authorities announced a curfew in central Paris and Place de la République. BBC Chinese interviewed three local Chinese to learn about the real situation and the impact of the riots on their lives.
Three interviewees said that the violence was concentrated in the demonstration area and the daily lives of citizens were not greatly affected. But they are not optimistic about the government's ability to quell the protests. Some even predict that as winter approaches and the cost of living rises, demonstrations will continue to appear.
From peaceful demonstrations to riots
"In fact, except for the two days of riots and demonstrations last weekend, no one was rioting after the return to work day, and there were no demonstrations on the road."
Zijun (pseudonym), 31 years old from Taiwan, is currently studying for a master's degree in marketing in Paris and interning at an advertising company. She told BBC Chinese that except for the burned debris and damaged businesses still left on the road, ordinary people's lives have returned to normal.
The march on October 17 was the sixth nationwide action called by local student organizations. Since there is a high school near the company, Zijun has seen people throwing fireworks onto the building before, and more radical people will also express their demands by burning trash cans.
In Chinese circles, Paris is divided into "Little Paris" and "Big Paris". "Little Paris" refers to the city center, while "Grand Paris" represents the entire Île-de-France region, including the surrounding suburbs. Zijun's home is located at the junction of the 9th and 18th arrondissements of Little Paris, close to the Galeries Lafayette department store and on the official parade route. She herself participated in the march.
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On the afternoon of October 17, Zijun went to the Place de la République with his French friends and followed the team for a while. She remembered that the atmosphere was very peaceful and joyful. There was even a band playing in the square, and passing cars would honk their horns in support.
The crowd held French flags and various slogans with various demands. Some people expressed support for the students with slogans that read, "There are free teachers here." Some people were concerned about economic issues, saying, "Don't let young people have no future." Others expressed dissatisfaction with the rulers.
But around five o'clock in the afternoon, as the parade came to an end, Zijun saw people in black clothes starting to appear on the road. Someone was shouting with a loudspeaker, asking everyone to gather at a certain station. French friends told her that those were "irregular demonstrators". For safety, Zijun returned home first. At night, she said, "I discovered that it had turned into a riot."
The protest, originally initiated by students, later expanded with the participation of different trade unions and protest groups. According to Agence France-Presse, Paris police fired tear gas and shock bombs at hundreds of demonstrators, while demonstrators threw bottles and stones at the police.
Other rioters, dressed in black and wearing masks, set fire to vehicles and broke into businesses to loot. The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) said that more than 2,000 shops were affected by the violence, with losses estimated at hundreds of millions of euros.
The riot zone is not limited to Paris. A 19th-century town hall in Limoges was set on fire, causing the bell tower and roof to collapse. Interior Secretary Nuñez later admitted that police had "lost control" in some cities.
The day after the parade, Zijun went to Republic Square again. Along the way, she saw many shops being smashed, with broken windows and burned cars and bicycles on the roadside. When she arrived at the square, she found that the iconic statue was covered in graffiti, but there was still a small group of people peacefully holding signs under the statue, explaining to passers-by: "We are not those rioting elements."
Daily life in Paris amid riots
Violent images of weekend demonstrations spread quickly on social platforms. Among them, the interview clip of an attack on a Chinese restaurant was widely reported.
Aline Li, a 50-year-old Chinese woman, runs a restaurant and tobacco shop in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The demonstrators pried open the roller shutters, broke the windows and broke into the store. Cash, tobacco and food were all stolen. During the process, Aline Li was beaten. Her right eye was severely bruised and she needed stitches on her forehead.
In an interview with Antoine Jumel, the city councilor in the area, she choked up and asked: "We serve the neighbors and have never harmed anyone. Why should this happen? I am afraid that the tragedy will happen again."
On October 19, the French police announced that in order to protect people's safety and property, they would implement a night curfew in places such as Place de la République and the Central Market shopping area Les Halles in Paris. The execution time will be from 11 pm to 6 am local time.
Jiang Bu, a 33-year-old Chinese artist who has settled in Paris for seven years, told BBC Chinese that the overall situation in Paris is relatively calm.
He said that he went out almost every day in the past week. His home is about 2.5 kilometers away from Place de la République. "It only takes about 10 minutes to get there by bicycle." He described that within a 500-meter radius of his residence, the supermarkets, restaurants, exhibition halls, and museums he visits daily are open as usual. Jiang Bu concluded: "The intense places are intense, and the quiet places are quiet."
The Art Week held in Paris every year in mid-October will go on as usual this year. When Leo Yeung, an artist from Hong Kong who has settled in Paris for more than ten years, was interviewed, he was visiting Art Basel at the Grand Palais in Paris. As can be seen in the video he provided, many visitors and artists gathered in the exhibition hall, and people communicated as usual.
Yang Zhihao said that he has visited different expos and galleries since October 19. The organizers did not cancel the event, the transportation he took was not affected, and the streets he passed through felt like everyday. The only thing he noticed was that some shops had boarded up their glass windows to prevent them from being broken by protesters.
The immigration-blaming debate
On social platforms, many people blamed immigrants for the riots. These include US President Trump, who claimed that France was "conquered and looted by immigrants, jihadists and communists"; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also claimed that France is being "invaded by extreme Islamism".
French President Macron later refuted the relevant claims, saying that there is currently no evidence that foreign forces were involved in the riots. "In these moments you can see clearly who likes France and who doesn't," he said.
Yang Zhihao, who has settled in Paris for more than ten years, believes that the level of violence in this demonstration is indeed more intense than in the past, but some politicians have shifted the issue to violence or immigration, which makes people ignore the systemic problem of the government's long-term disregard for public opinion. For example, he said that since the beginning of this year, many child sexual abuse cases have occurred in Paris. Different organizations in society have strived for attention, but the incidents have not been taken seriously by the authorities.
Chiang did not feel the same way. He pointed out that even before students blocked the school in September, people including students and cultural workers had been demonstrating peacefully, but the government had always ignored their voices. The reason why the number of demonstrators continues to expand is due to economic problems.
A sense of hopelessness in the economic downturn
During the seven years he settled in Paris, Chiang did not feel that he had experienced a transition from France's "pretty good development" to the overall European economy losing vitality.
He explained that from the Russo-Ukrainian war to the deterioration of relations between Europe and the United States, Europeans' incomes have become lower and the cost of living has increased. "Not only the younger generation, but actually everyone feels that the economy is in decline, and then everyone has no hope."
Zijun also had similar feelings. She went to Paris for a working holiday in 2023 and found a job quickly. But after returning to Paris this year, she found that the job market had indeed changed. She gave an example. Internship positions are generally applied by current students, but a colleague who has already obtained a degree is still interning because he cannot find a corresponding job.
Seeing the turmoil in front of him and the destruction of his favorite country, Zijun felt regretful and at the same time felt helpless about the future: "I believe no one wants to see the economy in bad shape...but it seems that there is no idea how the government or the people can make it better."
Chiang Kai-shek was equally pessimistic about the development of the movement. "I think it must continue until at least next year." He analyzed that with the arrival of winter, heating and energy costs will rise, and demands will increase, which may trigger new demonstrations.
More importantly, he does not believe in the government's ability to respond. "I don't quite believe that the French government can come up with solutions to calm everyone's anger or really solve the problem in a short period of time."
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