Biggest mass protests in China for decades target Xi and COVID-19 policy
Large parts of the Xinjiang region and its capital, Ürümqi, have been under lockdown for more than 100 days.
HUNDREDS of young people took to the streets of Beijing and Shanghai over the weekend to demonstrate against the Chinese government’s strict coronavirus containment measures in the largest protests seen in the country for decades.
Demonstrators shouted, among other things: “Down with the Communist party! Down with [President] Xi Jinping!” in videos shared online.
There was also footage showing several people being taken away by the police.
The protests, highly unusual in the Communist-ruled country with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, were apparently triggered by anger over a deadly fire that broke out in a residential building in Ürümqi in which at least 10 people were killed earlier in the week.
Several residents said on social media that the restrictions had hampered rescue efforts, with some people struggling to escape the burning building due to locked doors.
Some also left their apartments too late, or not at all, out of fear of violating the lockdown restrictions, according to reports.
Large parts of the Xinjiang region and its capital, Ürümqi, have been under lockdown for more than 100 days.
Hundreds of students gathered on the campus of Beijing’s Tsinghua Universty, Xi’s alma mater. Video footage showed them holding up blank sheets of paper.
“If we do not speak up out of fear, we will disappoint our people,” a young woman said, adding she would regret it for the rest of her life.
Those around her responded that she should not be fearful.
Residents in Beijing broke down fences cordoning off their homes, calling for an end to lockdowns. Wuhan, Chongqing and Ürümqi also saw protests. China is currently seeing its highest COVID-19 case numbers since the beginning of the pandemic. On Sunday, the health commission in Beijing reported a record number of more than 39,000 new cases.
Extensive restrictions on movement are currently in place in multiple cities with more than 1 million inhabitants, such as Beijing, the severely affected southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and Chongqing.