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China continues with rigid restrictions and a zero covid policy.
But the population is frustrated and a deadly fire was the starting point for the wave of protests that is spreading across the country.
– We don’t want PCR tests, we want freedom! chant the demonstrators, writes TT.
As the only country in the world, China continues with strict corona restrictions and a zero covid policy where every case of infection leads to closures.
Now the population is fed up, and a wave of protests has swept across the country. In cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, people gather in the streets and squares to show their dissatisfaction with lockdowns and other restrictions, write Reuters.
Police use force and pepper spray
This weekend, demonstrations also broke out at the country’s universities. The crowd at Peking University chanted, among other things: “We don’t want PCR tests, we want freedom!”, writes TT. They are also said to have called on President Xi Jinping and his Communist Party to resign.
At several demonstrations, the police have even used violence and pepper spray to try to stop people from participating.
Large open street protests are very rare in dictatorship China, and this is the first time it has erupted since Xi Jinping came to power ten years ago.
Apartment fire triggering factor
The wave of protests started after an apartment fire in the city of Ürümqi in Xinjiang province on Thursday, in which ten people died. Footage of the incident spread on social media and there were accusations that the high death toll was due to the ongoing lockdown.
On Saturday, municipal employees in Ürümqi held a press conference where they denied that the restrictions would have affected the rescue work.
Ürümqi’s residents have experienced some of the country’s longest lockdowns, being prevented from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days.