Not the Foreign Force (Ürümqi Middle Road)

Not the Foreign Force, also known as “Ürümqi Middle Road” in Chinese, depicts the nationwide protests against COVID-19 lockdown measures in China, state censorship, and regime abuses. The 77-minute film is a compilation of online screenshots and on-the-ground footage of thousands of mostly young people who demonstrated on the streets of Shanghai and other major Chinese cities in late November 2022. Director Chen Pinlin (internet username Plato) uploaded the documentary onto YouTube and Twitter, but was soon detained, arrested, and sentenced on suspicion of 尋釁滋事罪(“picking quarrels and stirring up trouble”). On 24 November 2022, a fire broke out in a residential apartment building in a Uyghur-majority neighbourhood in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, where 10 innocent lives perished ^[1]. The strict enforcement of zero-covid policy was considered the culprit of this totally avoidable tragedy, as it prevented residents from leaving the building and interfered with the firefighting efforts. Protests broke out firstly in Shanghai, people stood in solidarity and repeatedly chanted 「我們都是新疆人」, “we are all Uyghurs” (0:27:31–0:27:39). It later escalated to the nationwide White Paper Movement (or A4 Revolution) as young demonstrators helplessly and sarcastically held a piece of blank paper in response to censorship and restricted freedom, which also symbolizes their speechlessness over the tragedy.

“Foreign Force” (境外勢力) is a typical phrase used by Chinese state media when addressing internal dissident voices, putting the blame and diverting responsibility to geopolitical causality—the title Not the Foreign Force therefore implies the collective determination to overthrow the state narrative and assert people’s own voice. 「不要核酸要自由」“I don’t want PCR tests anymore, I want freedom” (0:27:40–0:28:00) was among the most frequently used slogans in the White Paper Movement. Pandemics, or times of crisis, often exacerbate long-standing tensions and power dynamics between individuals and the state. By early December 2022, China abruptly rolled back many of its strict COVID-19 policies, including mass testing and lockdowns, effectively ending the zero-COVID strategy. Chen’s film does not aim to be a polished cinematic work; instead, its power lies in its raw, chaotic, and unfiltered portrayal of intimate, real-life experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown. Through a collage of unpretentious visuals and voice-over narration, the documentary delivers an emotionally charged account—an unmediated, confrontational depiction that insists on telling and preserving the truth amid a turbulent historical moment.

^[1] The Uyghurs belong to a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the titular nationality of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China. Ürümqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. The name Ürümqi comes from the Mongolic Oirat language and means “beautiful pasture”