The Embassy of India in Beijing celebrated 74th Republic Day, the first without China's Zero-COVID protocol after almost three years. Ambassador Pradeep Rawat unfurled the national flag and read out important parts of the President of India's message to the nation to a large gathering of Indian diaspora who participated with patriotic fervor.<br />''<br />''This was followed by a short cultural program which included the screening of G20 video, Bharatanatyam performance, and a play in Hindi by Mr. Darshan Naik and his team of diaspora members. The play titled "Ganarajya" was based on Battle of Hydaspes while focusing on the unity in diversity inherent in the Indian republic. Bharatnatyam was performed by renowned Bharatnatyam exponent Ms. Jin Shanshan and her disciples. The celebrations were also held at consulates in Guangzhou and Shanghai.<br />''<br />''The Indian diaspora could watch the flag-hoisting ceremony live on embassy's Facebook page. This is the third time the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the gathering of Indian diaspora for Republic Day functions in Beijing.<br />''The Republic Day function was cancelled in 2020 due to a lockdown announced by China after the coronavirus broke out in Wuhan. In 2021, it was restricted to staff and their families in view of the prevailing COVID-19 infections and China's Zero-COVID protocols. In 2022, a limited number of Indian diaspora members could attend due to restrictions to enter Beijing.<br />''<br />''Since China removed its Zero-COVID protocols in early December 2022, over 80% of China's 1.4 billion population has been infected with coronavirus (largely Omicron variant), many with severe symptoms putting enormous strain on hospitals. China has officially reported 73000 deaths since it abruptly and "thoughtlessly" abandoned its stringent, confusing, and highly unpopular dynamic zero COVID protocols but reportedly mortality is much higher – probably crossing a million deaths due to a narrow definition of COVID-related deaths and deaths at homes.<br />''<br />''China's daily new COVID-19 infections reached their peak of 7 million cases per day around Dec 22, 2022, while a number of deaths reached a daily peak of 4,273 on January 4, according to the latest report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">At present, millions of Chinese have gone back to their home to celebrate Chinese New Year, driving the current surge in smaller cities and rural areas. Big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc. have crossed the worst phase of current wave of infections. </span><br />