Protests Across China As Anger Mounts Over Zero-Covid Policy.
By Admin.
Angry crowds took to the streets in Shanghai early on Sunday, and videos on social media showed protests in other cities across China, as public opposition to the government’s hardline zero-Covid policy mounts. A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, has spurred an outpouring of anger as many social media users blamed lengthy Covid lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts.
China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid strategy, with authorities wielding snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing to snuff out new outbreaks as they emerge. In a video widely shared on social media and geolocated by AFP, some protesters can be heard chanting “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” in central Shanghai’s Wulumuqi street — named for Urumqi in Mandarin — in a rare display of public opposition to China’s top leadership.
A person who attended the Shanghai protests but asked not to be identified told AFP they arrived at the rally at 2:00 am (1800 GMT) to see one group of people putting flowers on the sidewalk to mourn the 10 people killed in the fire, while another group chanted slogans. Video taken by an eyewitness showed a large crowd shouting and holding up blank white pieces of paper — a symbolic protest against censorship — as they faced several lines of police.
Credit: AFP
