Protests against the government’s tough Covid measures have intensified in China, with some taking out their anger publicly on Communist Party leaders.
Thousands of protesters turned out in Shanghai, where JEE News saw people being bundled into police cars.
Students have also held demonstrations at universities in Beijing and Nanjing.
The latest unrest followed a protest in the remote northwestern city of Urumqi, where lockdown rules were blamed after a tower block fire killed 10 people.
While Chinese officials deny that the deaths were caused by the Covid restrictions, authorities in Urumqi issued an unusual apology late on Friday, pledging to “restore peace” by lifting the restrictions.
‘Xi Jinping, step down’
Protests on Saturday night in Shanghai – China’s largest city and a global financial center in the east of the country – saw people chanting slogans such as “Xi Jinping, step down” and “Communist Party, step down”. “.
Some carried blank white banners, while others lit candles and laid flowers for the victims in Urumqi.
Such demands are an unusual sight within China, where direct criticism of the government and president can result in harsh punishments.
But analysts say the government appears to have largely eased discontent by moving towards a zero-covid approach, a policy linked to Xi Jinping who recently promised to There will be no stopping.
One protester in Shanghai told JEE News he was “shocked and a little excited” to see people taking to the streets, the first time he had seen such widespread dissent in China.
He said the lockdown made him feel “sad, angry and hopeless” and left him unable to see his ailing mother, who was undergoing treatment for cancer.
One female protester told JEE News that police officers were asked how they felt about the protests, and the response was “the same as you”. But, he said, “they wear their uniform so they’re doing their job.”
Others described violence, with one protester telling the Associated Press that one of his friends was beaten by police at the scene, while two others were pepper-sprayed.
People gathered again on Sunday, laying flowers for the victims of the Urumqi fire in the Urumqi Road area of ​​Shanghai.
However, the tribute was collected by the police, who also attended the protest site en masse.
