protests against “zero Covid” – Liberation are multiplying in China

Screaming protesters “Xi Jinping, step down!” : Such is the level of fed up in China, where anger is mounting against the draconian “zero Covid” policy practiced by the country’s authorities for almost three years. Protests against the lockdowns thus erupted on Sunday in Shanghai, in several universities in Beijing and in other cities. Confinements, closed schools and teleworking: in the face of the 30,000 cases registered in recent days, close to the record in the country, the Chinese authorities are once again tightening the measures to try to stem the circulation of the virus. For political reasons, much to the chagrin of the economic sectors… and of the population.

A video widely circulated on the internet and which AFP has geolocated to Shanghai shows some protesters screaming “Xi Jinping, step down!” and also to attack the Chinese Communist Party, a very rare manifestation of hostility towards the president and the regime in the country’s economic capital, subjected to a grueling two-month confinement at the beginning of the year.

This protest was held at dawn on Wulumuqi Street – the Mandarin name of Urumqi city in Xinjiang (west) where ten people died in a fire on Thursday, November 24th. Many posts circulating on social media in China accuse anti-Covid measures of having aggravated this tragedy by slowing down the arrival of help.

A person who took part in the protests in Shanghai told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that he arrived at around 2am at the demonstration. “A group of mourners laid flowers on the sidewalk, another group chanted slogans” he told this witness. “There were some minor scuffles, but overall the police were civil,” He continued. “It’s crazy to know that in these circumstances there are still so many brave people who stand out”, he exclaimed.

Video taken by a witness showed a large crowd shouting as they held up sheets of white paper – a symbol of censorship – in front of several police lines. Several witnesses reported that at least two people were taken away by the security forces. This Sunday during the day, the neighborhood was quiet again, under a heavy police presence. An AFP reporter saw people carrying flowers being accosted by police and leaving.

Watch at the university

Several hundred students from Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University also demonstrated on their campus on Sunday, according to an eyewitness interviewed by AFP and images posted on social networks. “At 11:30 [3 h 30 heure locale], the students started putting up signs at the entrance to the cafeteria. Then more and more people joined them. Now there are between 200 and 300 people. We sang the national anthem and the Internationale and sang: “Freedom will triumph””, this student told AFP.

Vigils in memory of the victims of Urumqi have been held in other universities in the country, including the equally prestigious Peking University, testifies a student who attended. According to him, slogans against the “zero Covid” policy were drawn on a wall of this university, after protesters began gathering on campus on Saturday evening, and the crowd reached between 100 and 200 people around two hours of the morning. . “I heard people shouting: “No to Covid tests, yes to freedom” he said, showing AFP photos and videos confirming his claims.

Videos on social networks also showed an important vigil at the Nanjing Communications Institute (East) where participants also brandished blank sheets of paper. Other videos, the authenticity of which AFP was unable to confirm, showed small protests in Xian (central), Guangzhou (south) and Wuhan (central). Authorities were quick to limit online discussions of the protests and delete the videos.

Confinements and quarantines

Tiredness is growing in China against the draconian policy to combat the pandemic. Sporadic and sometimes violent protests have already taken place in several other cities in recent days, including at the world’s largest iPhone factory in central Zhengzhou, as well as in Urumqi following the fire.

Despite the numerous vaccines available, and contrary to the rest of the world, the Asian country continues to impose massive confinements as soon as the slightest case appears, to quarantine people who have tested positive in centers and to request quasi-PCR tests. newspapers for access to public places.

A series of high-profile cases in which emergency services were allegedly slowed down by health restrictions, with fatal consequences, fueled the discontent. China recorded 39,506 cases of Covid on Sunday, a daily record that remains very low compared to figures recorded in other parts of the world at the height of the pandemic.