Unprcedented protests in anger over lockdowns mount, spread

SHANGHAI: Protests in China against heavy Covid-19 curbs spread to Shanghai yesterday, with demonstrators also gathering at one of Beijing’s most prestigious universities after a deadly fire sparked widespread anger.

The wave of civil disobedience, which has included protests in Urumqi where the fire broke out as well as elsewhere in Beijing and in other cities, has reached unprecedented levels in mainland China since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

In Shanghai, China’s most populous city, residents gathered on Saturday night at Wulumuqi Road – named after Urumqi – for a candlelight vigil that turned into a protest.

As a large group of police looked on, the crowd held up blank sheets of paper – a protest symbol against censorship. Later on, they shouted, “lift lockdown in all of China!”

At the campus of Beijing’s Tsinghua University a large crowd gathered also held blank sheets of paper.

Thursday’s fire that killed 10 people in a high-rise building in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, saw crowds take to the street on Friday, chanting “End the lockdown!”, videos on social media showed. Many internet users surmised that residents were not able to escape in time because the building was partially locked down, which city officials denied.

China has stuck with its zero-Covid policy even while the world tries to coexist with the coronavirus. While low by global standards, China’s cases have hit record highs for days, with nearly 40 000 new infections on Saturday.

China defends the policy as life-saving and to prevent overwhelming the health-care system. Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its toll on the world’s second-biggest economy. Widespread public protest is extremely rare in China, where room for dissent has been all but eliminated under Xi.

“This will put serious pressure on the party. There is a good chance that one response will be repression, arrests and prosecution of some protesters,” said Dan Mattingly, assistant professor of political science at Yale University.

In Lanzhou residents on Saturday upturned Covid staff tents and smashed testing booths.