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Angry crowds took to the streets of Shanghai early Sunday calling for an end to lockdowns, as China grapples with mounting public protests against its zero-Covid policy.
A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, spurred an outpouring of anger as many social media users blamed lengthy Covid lockdowns in the city for hampering rescue efforts.
In Shanghai’s central Wulumuqi street, named for Urumqi in Mandarin, 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 a rare display of public opposition to the country’s top leadership.
Video taken by an eyewitness on Sunday showed people gathering in central Shanghai to mourn the 10 victims killed in the Urumqi fire. Other vigils took place at universities across the country, according to posts widely circulating on social media.
A person who attended the Shanghai protests but asked not to be named told AFP they arrived at the rally at 2:00 am to see that “a group of people was mourning and sending flowers on the sidewalk, another group of people was chanting slogans”.
“There were minor clashes but in all, civilised law enforcement,” they added. “At last a couple of people were taken away by the police for unknown reasons.”
Authorities were swift to curb online discussion of the protest, with phrases related to the visit scrubbed from the Twitter-like Weibo platform almost immediately after footage of the rallies emerged.
The protests come against a backdrop of mounting public frustration over the Chinese government’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid and follow sporadic rallies in other cities.
Lockdowns and mass testing
China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid strategy, with authorities wielding snap lockdowns, lengthy…
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