COVID measures eased after protests

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Authorities in China’s western Xinjiang region opened up some neighborhoods in the capital of Urumqi on Saturday after residents held extraordinary latenight demonstrations against the city’s draconian “zero-COVID” lockdown that had lasted more than three months.

The displays of public defiance were fanned by anger over a fire in an apartment compound that had killed 10, according to the official death toll, as emergency workers took three hours to extinguish the blaze — a delay many attributed to obstacles caused by antivirus measures.

The demonstrations, as well as public anger online, are the latest signs of growing frustration with China’s intense approach to controlling COVID-19. It’s the only major country in the world that still is fighting the pandemic through mass testing and lockdowns.