Friday, September 19, 2025
  • Login
Euro Times
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Finance
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Markets
  • Stock Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Investing
  • Health
  • Technology
  • Home
  • Finance
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Markets
  • Stock Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Investing
  • Health
  • Technology
Euro Times
No Result
View All Result

Protests against COVID curbs spread to more Chinese cities

by Reuters
November 27, 2022
in World
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
Home World
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Protests in China against heavy COVID-19 curbs spread to Shanghai on Sunday, with demonstrators also gathering at one of Beijing’s most prestigious universities after a deadly fire in the country’s far west sparked widespread anger.

The wave of civil disobedience, which has included protests in Urumqi where the fire occurred as well as elsewhere in Beijing and in other cities, has reached unprecedented levels in mainland China since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

In Shanghai, China’s most populous city, residents gathered on Saturday night at Wulumuqi Road for a candlelight vigil that turned into a protest in the early hours of Sunday.

The road is named after Urumqi, the capital western Xinjiang region where many believe lockdown measures delayed firefighters from reaching the scene of a deadly apartment fire on Thursday. Emergency workers took three hours to extinguish the blaze, blamed for the deaths of 10 people.

As a large group of police in Shanghai looked on, the crowd held up blank sheets of paper — a protest symbol against censorship. Later on, they shouted, “Lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!” according to a video circulated on social media.

‘Down with Xi Jinping’

At another point, a large group began shouting, “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping,” according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the country’s leadership.

The police tried at times to break up the crowd.

At the campus of Beijing’s Tsinghua University, a large crowd gathered, according to images and videos posted on social media. Some people also held blank sheets of paper.

A health worker takes a swab sample from a man to be tested for COVID-19 in Beijing on Sunday. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

Thursday’s fire in Urumqi saw crowds take to the street on Friday evening, chanting “End the lockdown!” and pumping their fists in the air, according to videos on social media.

Many internet users surmised that residents were not able to escape in time because the building was partially locked down, which city officials denied. In Urumqi, a city of four million, some people have been locked down for as long as 100 days.

China has stuck with Xi’s signature zero-COVID policy even while much of the world tries to co-exist with the coronavirus. While low by global standards, China’s cases have hit record highs for days, with nearly 40,000 new infections on Saturday.

Protest extremely rare

China defends the policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the health-care system. Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world’s second-biggest economy.

Widespread public protest is extremely rare in China, where room for dissent has been all but eliminated under Xi, forcing citizens mostly to vent on social media, where they play cat-and-mouse with censors.

Frustration is boiling just over a month after Xi secured a third term at the helm of China’s Communist Party.

“This will put serious pressure on the party to respond. There is a good chance that one response will be repression, and they will arrest and prosecute some protesters,” said Dan Mattingly, assistant professor of political science at Yale University.

Still, he said, the unrest is far from that seen in 1989, when protests culminated in the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square. He added that as long as Xi had China’s elite and the army on his side, he would not face any meaningful risk to his hold on power.

This weekend, Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Ma Xingrui called for the region to step up security maintenance and curb the “illegal violent rejection of COVID-prevention measures.”

Xinjiang officials have also said public transport services will gradually resume from Monday in Urumqi.

‘We want freedom’

Other cities that have seen public dissent include Lanzhou in the northwest where residents on Saturday upturned COVID staff tents and smashed testing booths, posts on social media showed. Protesters said they were put under lockdown even though no one had tested positive.

Candlelight vigils for the Urumqi victims took place at universities in cities such as Nanjing and Beijing.

Videos from Shanghai showed crowds facing police and chanting “Serve the people”, “We want freedom,” and “We don’t want health codes,” a reference to the mobile phone apps that must be scanned for entry into public places across China.

Security personnel guard an entrance to a residential area under lockdown in Beijing on Saturday. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

The Shanghai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

The city’s 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, provoking anger and protests.

Chinese authorities have since then sought to be more targeted in their COVID curbs, an effort that has been challenged by the surge in infections as the country faces its first winter with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

In Beijing on Saturday, some residents under lockdown were able to successfully confront and pressure local officials into lifting curbs ahead of schedule.

One video shared with Reuters showed Beijing residents marching in an unidentifiable part of the capital on Saturday, shouting “End the lockdown!”

The Beijing government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Source link

Tags: ChinesecitiesCovidcurbsprotestsspread
Previous Post

IDBI Bank stake sale: IDBI Bank to continue as ‘Indian private sector bank’ post strategic sale

Next Post

Healing Haiti in the face of an increase in sexual violence — Global Issues

Related Posts

The Key to Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability — Global Issues

The Key to Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability — Global Issues

by Global Issues
September 18, 2025
0

The opening session of the Fourth World Convention on Girls in Beijing, China, 4 September 1995. UN Photograph/Milton Grant. The...

China pulls stealth drone from parade at last minute

China pulls stealth drone from parade at last minute

by Dylan Malyasov
September 18, 2025
0

China unexpectedly canceled the general public debut of its newest stealth unmanned fight aerial car throughout a high-profile army parade...

US revokes visas for Indian executives over fentanyl allegations | Drugs News

US revokes visas for Indian executives over fentanyl allegations | Drugs News

by Ali Harb
September 18, 2025
0

US embassy says company leaders – who it didn't establish – are concerned in ‘trafficking fentanyl precursors’.Printed On 18 Sep...

Brigitte Macron to give ‘photographic evidence’ she’s a woman after French first lady lost lawsuit over gender rumours

Brigitte Macron to give ‘photographic evidence’ she’s a woman after French first lady lost lawsuit over gender rumours

by Juliana Cruz Lima
September 18, 2025
0

BRIGITTE Macron is planning to current proof she is a lady after dropping a shock lawsuit in France over weird...

How Laser Weapons Could Take On War Drones

How Laser Weapons Could Take On War Drones

by Lara Jakes, Nikolay Nikolov and David Jouppi
September 18, 2025
0

new video loaded: How Laser Weapons Might Take On Warfare DronesBy Lara Jakes, Nikolay Nikolov and David Jouppi•September 18, 2025Russia’s...

3 police officers fatally shot in Pennsylvania — RT World News

3 police officers fatally shot in Pennsylvania — RT World News

by RT
September 18, 2025
0

Three US law enforcement officials have been fatally shot whereas serving a court docket warrant in York County, Pennsylvania, on...

Next Post
Healing Haiti in the face of an increase in sexual violence — Global Issues

Healing Haiti in the face of an increase in sexual violence — Global Issues

Airbus may delay some 2023 jet deliveries -sources By Reuters

Airbus may delay some 2023 jet deliveries -sources By Reuters

Scholastic Corporation Q1 Loss Increases, Misses Estimates

Scholastic Corporation Q1 Loss Increases, Misses Estimates

September 19, 2025
Google Discover Gains Follow Button and Expands Content Sources

Google Discover Gains Follow Button and Expands Content Sources

September 18, 2025
Google Adds Gemini To Chrome After Dodging Forced Sale

Google Adds Gemini To Chrome After Dodging Forced Sale

September 18, 2025
NCLT approves Gayatri Projects’ settlement plan from promoters

NCLT approves Gayatri Projects’ settlement plan from promoters

September 18, 2025
Sudhanshu Vats named as new President of ASCI

Sudhanshu Vats named as new President of ASCI

September 18, 2025
Monthly Dividend Stock In Focus: Mesa Royalty Trust

Monthly Dividend Stock In Focus: Mesa Royalty Trust

September 18, 2025
Euro Times

Get the latest news and follow the coverage of Business & Financial News, Stock Market Updates, Analysis, and more from the trusted sources.

CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Finance
  • Health
  • Investing
  • Markets
  • Politics
  • Stock Market
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • World

LATEST UPDATES

Scholastic Corporation Q1 Loss Increases, Misses Estimates

Google Discover Gains Follow Button and Expands Content Sources

  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us

Copyright © 2022 - Euro Times.
Euro Times is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Finance
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Markets
  • Stock Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Investing
  • Health
  • Technology

Copyright © 2022 - Euro Times.
Euro Times is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In