Chinese Protest Against Zero-Covid Policy: Protests broke out in Shanghai, China on Saturday (26 November) night against Beijing’s strict COVID-19 policy. Several videos have surfaced on social media, in which people are shown raising slogans against the Chinese government’s restrictions on Covid. The protests began after 10 people were killed and nine injured in an apartment fire in Urumqi. In this episode, a large number of Chinese citizens took to the streets expressing anger over the Covid policy.
DW News East Asia correspondent William Yang posted a video on Twitter that shows people protesting against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Xi Jinping on ‘Urumqi Road’. Citizens raised slogans such as “Remove Communist Party”, “Remove Communist Party” and “Remove Xi Jinping”.
Incredible footage from #China‘s #Shanghaiwhere countless people gathered at a road called “#Urumqi road,” chanting a slogan “Step down, the Communist Party” very loudly. https://t.co/6YBpfbxsox
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) November 26, 2022
News Reels
‘I don’t want PCR test’
In a series of tweets regarding the protests in Shanghai, William Yang said that countless people gathered on Urumqi Road and chanted, “I don’t want the PCR test, I want freedom.” In another tweet, William Yang said, people in ‘Urumqi Road’ called for an end to the lockdown in Xinjiang as well.
Police surrounded the last few dozens of protesters at the scene in Shanghai and some women were reportedly taken away. https://t.co/gaEPtObJ47
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) November 26, 2022
Scuffle between police and protesters
In another tweet, he said that there was a scuffle between people and the police at a protest site in Shanghai. In the tweet thread, William Yang continued, “Police surrounded the last few dozen protesters at the scene in Shanghai and some women were reportedly taken away.” People also raised the slogan “Step down CCP”.
SHANGHAI: Rare protests erupt in #China‘s largest city over Covid restrictions & govt. rules. “We want freedom” the crowd chants in this video from Wulumuqi road tonight: pic.twitter.com/aHEtDQV42a
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) November 26, 2022
‘We want freedom’
Meanwhile, The National’s Senior US Correspondent Joyce Karam also posted a video on her Twitter handle, in which people are seen protesting against the COVID-19 restrictions in Wollumooke Road. “Rare protests over COVID restrictions and government regulations have begun in China’s largest city,” Karam tweeted. In the video, the crowd is seen chanting, “We want freedom.”
nationwide anger
As soon as the cases of corona increased in China, the government put a lockdown in many cities. According to media reports, 25 million people of Shanghai were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year. This is the reason that now people have started coming out on the streets.
On Friday night, crowds thronged the streets of Urumqi. People chanted, “End the lockdown!” It is notable that many of Urumqi’s four million residents have been under some of the longest lockdowns in the country. In Beijing, 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) away, some residents under lockdown staged small protests on Saturday over movement restrictions and clashed with local officials.
read this also- From China to Brazil and Japan… Corona cases spreading rapidly, lockdown in many cities!