China’s Mortgage Revolt

Xi has driven China into an economic crisis—now, the Chinese are fighting back

Unfinished apartment buildings at China Evergrande Group's Health Valley development on the outskirts of Nanjing, China, on Oct. 22, 2021. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Commentary

Something rare is happening in China. Protests and boycotts are expanding.

Not for democracy, exactly, as in 1989 in Tiananmen Square and up to 2020 in Hong Kong. The protests today—from Beijing to Guangxi and recently in Hong Kong—are outwardly against property developers who absconded with down payments, never to deliver the promised apartments. These homes now exist as vacant windows—seen but inaccessible to the families who bought them—in lifeless gray hulks that lack the living pulse of electricity, water, elevators, and neighbors.