‘Step down, Xi ‘Genius’ sign flashed in

PROTESTS have erupted across China, with people chanting “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!” in an unprecedented show of defiance.

Locals took to the streets in Beijing, Shanghai and the far western Xinjiang region after a high-rise residential blaze on Friday. The fire broke out on the 15th floor and rapidly spread to the higher floors - killing ten people and injuring another nine

The protest was kicked off by angry residents demanding to know if firefighters were delayed from coming inside the apartment block due to a quarantine order enforced by the government.

But they’ve since spread across the country — to at least nine cities — and have become a lot more serious.

From the capital Beijing to financial hub Shanghai, the deaths have led to protests across China and police have descended onto the streets to keep order as tensions boil over.

Protesters in Shanghai stood on police cars and others chanted “we don’t want PCR tests” as a vigil was held in the city for the fire victims on Saturday night.

Many protesters are holding up blank pieces of paper to indicate their anger and have called for President Xi Jinping to resign.

In extraordinary scenes, students at Beijing’s elite Tsinghua University protested by singing the national anthem.

And some students were seen holding paper with the Friedmann equations scrawled on them, which explain how the universe evolves over time.

The use of the Friedmann equations is understood to be a play on the words “free man” and was dubbed a “genius move” on social media.

Students from the elite school Tsinghua University protested with Friedmann equation. I have no idea what this equation means, but it does not matter. In Wuhan, footage appeared to show raging protesters tearing down barriers as hundreds took to the streets.

There were also protests in Xi’an and Chengdu.

It’s not clear how many people have been arrested across the country.

Chinese internet users claim the locks used around the block allegedly hindered the fire trucks.

Parked cars on the surrounding streets also reportedly delayed the rescuers, many of which were unable to start due to flat batteries from lack of use due to the lockdown period, which has extended for more than 100 days.

It reportedly took three hours for the fire brigade to extinguish the blaze, which started on the 15th floor, with tragic audio circulating that claims to share details of some of the victim’s final moments as they remained stuck inside. Nine were injured in the blaze, and there are fears the number of deaths could skyrocket to as high as 40.

After Sunday’s fire in a high-rise building in Urumqi, which killed at least 10 people beacause of lockdown measures, people in China are now breaking down gates and