Protests in China against corona policy after fire with ten dead

In the Chinese city of Urumqi, in the west of the country, many people took to the streets yesterday to demonstrate against the coronavirus measures. The reason for this is a fire in an apartment building in the city last Thursday, in which ten people died.

Local authorities say people simply managed to leave the apartment, but videos posted on social media have sparked anger. For example, many internet users shared screenshots that allegedly showed residents couldn’t get out in time because the building was partially closed.

Urumuqi has one of the longest lockouts in China. Many residents of the city of millions cannot leave their homes for a hundred days.

At least 10 million Uyghurs live in the Xinjiang region, where Urumqi is located, a Muslim minority harshly repressed by the rulers of Beijing. They are not allowed to practice their faith and large numbers of people are held in so-called re-education camps, where, according to human rights organizations, they have to do forced labor and suffer serious abuse.

Video footage from yesterday’s protest in Urumqi shows many people mobilizing and demanding the lifting of the blockade:

The corona measures are also further in the capital Beijing this week strict. Restaurants, parks and offices are closed again. As coronavirus measures are increasingly relaxed around the world, China is sticking to a zero-covid approach.