Chinese students in Paris hunker down as city braces for more mass protests

France is bracing for another day of mass protests on Saturday, with the government promising that 70,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed across the country amid fears that last weekend’s scenes of violence and looting could repeat themselves.

For many Chinese students living in Paris, the events last Saturday were their first taste of a major French protest turned violent. While most said the experience had not put them off staying in France, many said they worried about the country’s broader social, economic and political trajectory – and how the unrest might further boost the far-right.

“I was not really shocked by the scenes of violence,” said Hannah Zhang, who moved to France for graduate school in 2024. “It was more like, ‘Ah, here they go again’.”

The high school student protests for better education funding, which inspired the wider demonstrations last Saturday, have affected her studies at Paris’ elite Sciences Po university for weeks, with students barricading the campus in solidarity.

While the events last weekend were the most extreme she had seen in terms of intensity, after two years in Paris Zhang has had her fair share of experiences with French public gatherings and the chaos they can bring.

She recalled the night Paris Saint-Germain won the Uefa Champions League in May, when some fans celebrating “went crazy” and launched fireworks in every direction.

“I knew some troublemakers would take advantage of the protest to create chaos… so I already told myself to avoid those areas,” Zhang said.

Some also felt that Chinese-language reports about the protests – especially those from clickbait accounts on social media – had exaggerated the situation.

Bob Bo, like many other Chinese students in France, received messages from his parents, relatives and friends checking in on him following the riot.

“I told them that actually things are all right and did not impact my everyday life,” he said.

Tony Zhuang, who also previously studied in the United States, said he felt safer during the recent unrest in France than he had during similar episodes in the US.

Nevertheless, while the protests themselves are not a major source of concern for most students, many expressed concern that the unrest could strengthen far-right National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen ahead of France’s presidential election next spring.

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“The riot will not impact my decision to stay in France but its political implications might make it more difficult for me to stay here if the far-right wins,” said Zhuang, who moved to France with his wife a year ago to start a new life and escape the competitive work environment back in China.

A poll conducted by Ifop between October 17 and 19 showed Marine Le Pen widening her lead, with 36 per cent of respondents saying they would vote for her in the first round of the election, up 2 percentage points from a week earlier. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon came second with 16.5 per cent, followed by centre-left candidate Raphael Glucksmann with 13.5 per cent.

With further protests planned for this Saturday and the next, plus a general strike called for November 5 by CGT, one of the country’s largest unions, many students are preparing for the prospect of prolonged unrest.

“This is honestly a real first for me, and I really can’t imagine how far it will go,” Zhang said.