Thousands of people are calling for an end to restrictions and questioning Xi Jinping’s leadership
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several cities in China on Saturday night against Xi Jinping and the Communist Party’s “covid zero” policy. Friday’s protest in the Xinjiang region after ten people died in a building fire in an enclosed area, where some say emergency services could not arrive in time due to sanitary restrictions, has spread despite tight police checks.
Although Chinese authorities have been quick to deny it, there have been protests in Shanghai and other major cities on Saturday and early Sunday. In the country’s great economic capital, hundreds of university students have lit candles to mourn the deceased and raised blank sheets of paper, a common symbol in anti-censorship protests.
Several videos aired on social networks show some residents defying strict policies against the coronavirus, moves some witnesses interviewed by CNN describe as “unprecedented.” The American chain collects that in the images you hear groups chanting slogans such as “Resign, Xi Jinping! Back off, communist party!” “I don’t want the covid test, I want freedom!” and “I don’t want dictatorship, I want democracy!”
Other recordings show groups of people singing the Chinese national anthem and La Internationale, of the socialist movement, while carrying banners protesting Beijing’s strict measures. There have also been protests in the capital where, according to a witness handed over to CNN, security officers have tried to cover the banners by using jackets and covering the slogans with black paint.
Dozens of students from the Communication University have also gathered in the eastern city of Nanjing to commemorate the deceased with blank sheets of paper. In the videos, the North American chain translates, an official threatens: “They will pay for what they did today.”
At the same time, the number of coronavirus infections is recording record figures in the country with more than 40,000 people infected.
Source: La Verdad
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