China protests mount over zero-covid policy
Demonstrators across China took to the streets on Sunday, as protests flared against widespread anger over heavy Covid-19 curbs in the country.
A blank sheet of white paper has become the unlikely symbol of defiance against the Chinese government’s controversial anti-covid curbs with protests spreading to cities far and wide including to capital Beijing and the financial hub of Shanghai.
The unprecedented outpouring of anger was partly sparked by a deadly fire that claimed the lives of at least 10 people allegedly locked up in a Covid-controlled high-rise in northwest China’s Urumqi city on Thursday.
Sporadic protests on local issues are not uncommon in China but demonstrations reported from various parts of the country, focussed on one issue are exceptionally rare.
Since Friday people have held protests across China, an indication of simmering anger against excessive lockdown measures against Covid-19 outbreaks.
Widespread protests against the “zero Covid” policy were also
reported from university campuses across China, most notably from Beijing’s elite Tsinghua university and the city of Nanjing’s Communication university.
A rare public outburst in major cities IN SHANGHAI
hundreds gathered in the downtown area to hold a candle-light vigil early on Sunday that transformed into a full-blown demonstration by the afternoon. Videos from the area spread on social media showed a crowd chanting slogans like...
"DOWN WITH THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY, DOWN WITH XI JINPING", and “LIFT LOCKDOWN FOR URUMQI, LIFT LOCKDOWN FOR XINJIANG, LIFT LOCKDOWN FOR ALL OF CHINA!". Footage from several different angles showed a man holding a bouquet of yellow flowers being dragged into a police car as onlookers shouted. Dozens of policemen in yellow high-vis jackets formed a thick line, cordoning off the streets where the protests had taken place, while their colleagues asked people to leave the area.
China’s hardline virus strategy is stoking public frustration, with many growing weary of snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns.
IN BEIJING,
hundreds rallied at the elite Tsinghua University to protest against lockdowns. Participants sang the national anthem and and chanted "FREEDOM WILL PREVAIL" and "NO TO LOCKDOWNS, WE WANT FREEDOM", eyewitnesses told news agency AFP. They described students holding up blank pieces of paper, a symbolic protest against censorship.