Protests explode in China against the “zero-Covid” policy imposed by the Beijing government. Protests of dissent are breaking out in several cities and universities, including Shanghai, where hundreds of people chanted “Resign, Xi Jinping! Down with the Communist Party!”. And, despite the restrictive measures, infections have reached a record since the beginning of the pandemic, with 31,527 cases registered last Wednesday.
In Urumqi, capital of China’s Xinjiang province, crowds took to the streets after the deaths of ten people stranded in a burning building. Videos circulated on social media, reports the BBC, show people who took to the streets last night chanting slogans, shaking their fists in the air and overcoming a barrier erected by municipality workers in protective suits. Yesterday the authorities promised a gradual exit from the anti-covid measures, without mentioning the protests.
Urumqi has been under anti-covid restrictions since August. A fire in a block of flats on Thursday left ten dead and nine injured. According to numerous posts online, relief has been made difficult by anti-covid measures. A resident told the BBC that residents of the burning building were prevented from leaving.
The authorities deny it and references on social networks to the anti-lockdown protests in Urumqi have been deleted. However, today a gradual exit from confinement was announced in parts of the city considered to be at low risk of contagion. Xinjiang is inhabited by the Muslim Uyghur minority, whom China is accused of persecuting. It is not the first time that protests have taken place in China against the zero covid policy adopted by the Beijing government.
