Protests flare across China in unprecedented challenge to Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy

Protests flared across China on Saturday, where hundreds chanted, “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!” in an unprecedented show of defiance against the country’s strict and increasingly costly zero-Covid policy reports CNN.

A deadly fire at a flat block in Urumqi, the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang, which massacred ten people and injured nine on Thursday, has acted as a trigger for searing public anger, as videos emerged that seemed to suggest lockdown measures delayed firefighters from reaching the victims.

Some videos show people singing China’s national anthem and The Internationale, a standard of the socialist campaign while holding banners opposing the country’s exceptionally stringent pandemic steps.

On dozens of university campuses, students held gatherings or put up posters to grieve the dead from the Xinjiang fire and speak out against zero-Covid. In several cities, residents in locked-down neighborhoods tore down barriers and took to the streets following mass anti-lockdown protests that swept Urumqi on Friday night.

Such widespread scenes of anger and defiance – some of which stretched well into Sunday – are exceptionally rare in China, where the ruling Communist Party ruthlessly cracks down on all expressions of dissent.

NOW – People tear down barricades in Wuhan. Anti-lockdown protests are spreading to more and more cities in China. Power to the people! 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/aeqjLZ7tip

— vegastar (@vegastarr) November 27, 2022

But three years into the pandemic, many people have been pushed to the brink by the government’s continued use of lockdowns, Covid tests, and quarantines.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of Shanghai residents returned to the site to protest despite heavy police presence and roadblocks.

Videos showed hundreds of people at an intersection shouting, “Release the people!” demanding the police to free detained demonstrators.