AG百家乐在线官网

Is a coup possible? Could war with Taiwan be used as a distraction? Is Apple complicit with China after iPhone changes? These are just some of your questions that were answered below.

Thanks to all those who submitted a question - and thanks to Sky News correspondents Helen-Ann Smith (Asia correspondent, in Shanghai), Dominic Waghorn (international affairs editor) and Tom Cheshire (data and forensics, and former Asia correspondent) for taking part.

Tom Cheshire, data and forensics correspondent:

3/10? The protests are extraordinary. But the level of control the Chinese Communist Party exerts has only grown during the pandemic 鈥� a combination of neighbourhood level organisation and powerful digital surveillance tools. 

Protesters do not have easy access to Western social media to organise like they did in Hong Kong 鈥� and even those were eventually crushed. 

President Xi probably thinks that a massive COVID death wave would pose a much higher level of risk to him and the CCP than the protests we have seen so far. But that is not to say he will not be alarmed by them. 

Helen-Ann Smith, Asia correspondent in Shanghai:

That's a very difficult question to answer because if protest of any sort is riAG百家乐在线官网 in China, specifically critiquing President Xi is especially dangerous. It means that even if that's what people are feeling, they would very rarely say so out loud.

I think symbols such as the blank pieces of paper being held up by protestors indicate people are angry about more than just zero-COVID, they are also upset about some of the restrictions of living in a one-party police state.

But there are likely others, particularly in more local clashes with pandemic workers, who are simply frustrated with just immediate COVID restrictions

Helen-Ann Smith, Asia correspondent in Shanghai:

There have definitely been fewer protests in the last few days but there have been some. People clashed with police in the city of Jinan after some areas there were locked down, and there have been similar scenes in Southern Guangzhou.

But over recent weeks there have been demonstrations in multiple cities from Urumqi in the far west, to Wuhan where the pandemic first began - and the capital Beijing.

It's worth noting that protests have been different in nature. Over the weekend much of what we saw was young educated people coming out against zero-COVID and government control in theory, while in more recent days clashes have largely involved people facing immediate restrictions.

There isn't such thing as a free press in China, media coverage is tightly controlled. Videos of what's happened have spread on Chinese social media but an army of censors has moved to take things down. In reality it will have been mainly the young and the savvy who will have seen them.

Tom Cheshire, data and forensics correspondent:

The National People's Congress was unusual in recent Chinese history in that no heir apparent was presented: President Xi Jinping is in charge for the foreseeable. And that means any move towards democratisation is less likely than it has been for years. 

Moreover, President Xi has dismantled many of the elements of civil society that did exist to some extent before he took power: independent journalists, human rights lawyers and NGOs have all been repressed. 

But by abolishing term limits, and not announcing a successor, President Xi has opened up the possibility of a messy succession crisis when he does leave the stage. And if life becomes even more controlled in China, with painful consequences for the economy, that might mean any successor chooses a more open path. 

When Chairman Mao died, there was a fierce battle for power. Deng Xiaoping eventually won and relaxed many of the Maoist restrictions as he pursued "reform and opening up" 鈥� the catalyst for China's massive economic growth. 

Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor:

Undoubtedly. Some protestors have been chanting "We don't want an emperor". 

Under the old system, a president would have only two terms. It was an effective way of letting the CCP learn from the mistakes of each leader and adapt its rule. 

The Chinese are now stuck with a man who has grandiose ambitions and a huge ego, and yet has now shown he can make mistakes. They were hoping he would moderate his zero-COVID policy during the latest party congress. Instead he promoted one of those who imposed it most ruthlessly, the former party secretary in Shanghai, Li Qiang. For many, that may have been the last straw.

Helen-Ann Smith, Asia correspondent in Shanghai:

The reality is that any sort of toppling of the government is highly unlikely, and anyone speculating that this is a possibility probably doesn't know much about China.

In the decades it has been in power the CCP has established incredible levels of involvement and control in the state and civil society. It's present almost everywhere, from neighbourhood watches to the education curriculum. Organised resistance against this degree of omnipresence is incredibly hard.

But the most significant barrier is the surveillance of people's communications. Most apps that offer encrypted conversations like WhatsApp are banned here and the main Chinese social media app WeChat is closely watched. People can be barred from it for as little as sending a sensitive image.

It means it is almost impossible to organise, even if that's what the majority of people wanted - which is far from certain.

Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor: 

Yes, China's state television is showing the games with a 30-second delay and replacing crowd shots with close-ups of coaches and players after Chinese social media filled up early on in the tournament with comments noting the lack of masks on spectators' faces. 

The Chinese have been told their government's handling of the pandemic has been better than other countries, but the World Cup shows the rest of the world is moving on while the Chinese are stuck in lockdowns and under mask mandates.

Tom Cheshire, data and forensics correspondent: 

Hong Kong hasn't quite abandoned COVID zero. Gatherings are still limited to 12 people, masks must be worn in public places and people must still display a health tracking app on their phone to enter venues.

But life is certainly a lot easier than in mainland China. 

That's partly because Hong Kong didn't so much exit but crash out of COVID zero: it had a disastrous Omicron wave peaking in March, for a time recording the world's highest death rate. Of those who died, 70% were unvaccinated.

It's exactly the scenario that the mainland fears and one of the issues I looked at in this report yesterday. 

Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor:

Most observers think he will play a long game with Taiwan. To quote Sun Tzu's The Art of War: "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." 

China can expect a spike in COVID because of this unrest and the likely easing of lockdowns that will follow, and that will be bad news for the economy.  He cannot afford to do anything that would jeopardise the economy further, and war with Taiwan would be disastrous on that front.