Protesters angered by strict anti-virus measures called for China’s powerful leader Xi Jinping to resign. In a nation where dissent is quickly quashed, the protests were an unprecedented rebuke against leadership decisions. Authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress demonstrations Sunday. The public dissatisfaction represents a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party.
Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai. The masses called for an end to one-party rule. They demanded that Xi, who only recently secured his third term as president, step down. The group dispersed, but just hours later, people rallied again in the same spot. Police again broke up the demonstration, and a reporter saw protesters under arrest taken away in a bus.
The protests began Friday. They spread to cities including Beijing and to dozens of university campuses. It’s the most widespread show of opposition to the ruling party in decades.
Three years after the novel coronavirus emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop its transmission. Its “zero COVID” strategy suspends access to neighborhoods for weeks at a time. Some cities still carry out daily virus tests on millions of residents.
That may have kept China’s infection numbers lower than those of the United States and other major countries, but public acceptance has worn thin. People quarantined at home in some areas say they lack food and medicine. The ruling party faced public anger following the deaths of two children whose parents said anti-virus controls hampered efforts to get medical help.
The current protests erupted after a fire broke out Thursday, tragically killing at least 10 people in an apartment building in the city of Urumqi in the northwest. Some there have been locked in their homes for four months. The fire prompted an outpouring of angry questions online about whether firefighters or people trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other restrictions.
About 300 demonstrators gathered late Saturday in Shanghai. Most of that city’s 25 million people were confined to their homes for almost two months starting in late March. Some called for an official apology for the deaths in Urumqi.
The scene turned violent early Sunday. Hundreds of police broke up groups. They tried to move people off the main street. Some witnesses stood and filmed as police shoved people.
Officers in surgical masks and yellow safety vests told the crowd of about 300 spectators to leave but appeared to be trying to avoid a confrontation. There was no sign of shields or other riot gear.
In Beijing, a group of about 200 people gathered in a park. They held up blank sheets of paper, a symbol of defiance against the ruling party’s censorship.
“The lockdown policy is so strict,” said a protester, who would give only his surname, Li. “You cannot compare it to any other country. We have to find a way out.”
Postings on social media said there were demonstrations at 50 universities.
About 2,000 students at Xi’s alma mater, Tsinghua University in Beijing, gathered to demand an easing of anti-virus controls, according to social media posts. Students shouted, “Freedom of speech!” and sang “The Internationale,” the socialist anthem.
The protesters left after the university’s deputy Communist Party secretary promised to hold a school-wide discussion.
The human rights group Amnesty International appealed to Beijing to allow peaceful protest.
“The tragedy of the Urumqi fire has inspired remarkable bravery across China,” the group’s regional director, Hanna Young, said in a statement. “These unprecedented protests show that people are at the end of their tolerance for excessive COVID-19 restrictions.”
Urumqi and Korla, a smaller city in Xinjiang, eased some anti-virus controls. The move appeared to be an attempt to soothe the public following Friday’s protests. Markets and other businesses will reopen in areas deemed at low risk of virus transmission. Bus, train, and airline service will also resume, state media reports.
(Chinese protesters hold up blank paper and chant slogans calling for government change as they march in Beijing on Sunday, November 27, 2022. The protesters were angered by ongoing strict anti-virus measures. AP/Ng Han Guan)
