Videos show strongest Chinese protest wave in years: “We want freedom!” | Abroad

The reason for the protests is a fire in the city of Urumqi in the northwestern province of Xinjiang that killed ten people on Thursday. According to the demonstrators, they could not escape the flames due to a strict lockdown.

In the apartment building, not only doors would have been locked due to the measures, but rescuers would also have had difficulty reaching the building due to fences that had been placed due to the lockdown.

Some victims would not have dared to leave their home immediately for fear of violating the corona rules. In Urumqi — a city of 3.5 million people — residents have been practically barred for 100 days.

LOOK. Commemoration of fire victims leads to protest in Shanghai

On Saturday, commemorations for the victims were organized in cities across the country and in Shanghai, among others, this resulted in protests. Videos shared on social media show a group of protesters chanting “down with the Communist Party and down with President Xi Jinping.” The police intervened and, according to witnesses, many people were arrested.

On Sunday, people took to the streets again in many cities. In Beijing, hundreds of people have gathered at a university building. The people are calling for freedom and an end to lockdowns across China.

Hundreds of people gathered to protest at Tsingua University in Beijing on Sunday, according to testimonials and images posted on social media.

“At 11.30 am (04.30 am Belgian time) students started placing signs at the entrance of the canteen. More and more people have joined them. There are now between 200 and 300 people. We sang the national anthem and the Internationale (a leftist anthem, ed.) and shouted: ‘freedom will triumph’, ‘no PCR tests, we want to eat’ and ‘no to the lockdowns’”, said a student.

According to the student, the deputy secretary of the communist party came to speak with the young people, after which several of them left. The police were not present at the time.

Large crowds have also gathered against the corona policy in Shanghai and Wuhan. Residents of cities such as Guangzhou, Xi’an and Chongqing also shared videos of similar protests from Saturday and Sunday. Earlier there were already strong protests in Urumqi itself, in the northwest of China.

That the protests are so open and spread across the country is rare for China, which has a population of 1.4 billion and where resistance is normally censored. In Shanghai, protesters held up blank sheets of paper to symbolize censorship.

The authorities in Urumqi deny that the corona measures prevented people from leaving the burning building. They argue that the residents of the building did not know enough about the fire hazard.

The corona figures in China are at the highest level since the start of the pandemic. The health commission reported more than 39,000 new infections on Sunday, the fourth record in a row. The Chinese government of Xi Jinping, meanwhile, continues to stick to its strict zero-covid policy.