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Παρασκευή, 29 Μαρτίου, 2024

China: Anti-lockdown protesters return to same spot in Shanghai after being pepper-sprayed by police |

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People protesting against China’s strict COVID lockdowns returned to the streets of Shanghai despite being forcibly removed by police using pepper spray only a few hours earlier.

In what Amnesty International described as a move of “remarkable bravery”, people objecting to the continuing confinement of millions of people – for weeks at a time – gathered again at the same spot.

One said Beijing’s COVID policy was a “game”, while another demanded “basic human rights”.

Their anger was ignited by a fire in the city of Urumqi on Thursday which killed at least 10 people.

It is feared residents were unable to escape from a tower block engulfed in flames because of President Xi Jinping’s continuing zero COVID policy.

A candlelight vigil on Shanghai’s Wulumuqi Road, which is named after Urumqi, led to demonstrations.

Protesters held up blank sheets of paper as an expression of their anger, while some called on the Communist Party to step down.

The protests have spread to about 50 universities, according to the AP news agency.

Many Chinese cities have been under strict lockdown for months – many of Urumqi’s four million residents, for example, have been unable to leave their homes for any reason since August.

Officials deny that the deaths in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, were caused by the lockdown policy.

And a fire department spokesperson inspired further anger after appearing to blame residents for not being able to “rescue themselves”.

But protesters were scathing. “We just want our basic human rights,” said one in Shanghai who did not want to be identified.

“We can’t leave our homes without getting a test. It was the accident in Xinjiang that pushed people too far.”

Another demonstrator, Shaun Xiao, said China’s COVID policy is “a game and not based on science or reality”.

In Beijing, a group chanted: “We don’t want masks, we want freedom.”

Amnesty International UK said: “The tragedy of the Urumqi fire has inspired remarkable bravery across China.

“It is virtually impossible for people in China to protest peacefully without facing harassment and prosecution.

“These unprecedented protests show that people are at the end of their tolerance of excessive COVID-19 restrictions.”

Analysis: Why this is a major challenge to ruling Communist Party

In Shanghai, in s shared on social media and verified by Sky News the protesters were seen chanting slogans including “Xi Jinping, step down, Communist Party, step down”, “Unlock Xinjiang, unlock China”, “do not want PCR (tests), want freedom” and “press freedom”.

Image:
Pic: AP

Image:
Pic: AP

A protester who gave only his family name, Zhao, told The Associated Press that one of his friends was beaten by police and two friends were pepper sprayed.

He said police stomped on his feet as he tried to stop them from taking his friend away. He lost his shoes in the process, and left the protest barefoot.

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2:06

Sky News witnesses Shanghai protest

Read more:Beijing ‘effectively under lockdown’Lockdown frustration grows in China’s epicentre

Reuters reported it had seen a showing Beijing residents in an unidentifiable part of the city marching around an open-air carpark on Saturday shouting “end the lockdown”.

Sean Li, a resident of Beijing, told Reuters that a planned lockdown for his compound was called off on Friday after residents spotted workers putting barriers on their gates.

The residents had protested to their local leader and convinced him to cancel the plans.

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1:24

China protests: ‘People are really upset’

Mr Li said: “The Urumqi fire got everyone in the country upset.

“That tragedy could have happened to any of us.”

Read more:Who are the Uyghur people and why do they face oppression by China?

There were protests in Urumqi on Friday night when a vigil for fire victims turned into an anti-lockdown demonstration.

People chanted “open up, open up” in s that were shared on social media before being deleted by censors on Saturday.

But the protesters won some concessions, with parts of the city deemed low risk being given a bit more freedom from restrictions during the weekend.

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Protests against government policy are rare in China but even more unusual in Xinjiang.

The province, home to China’s persecuted Uyghur minority, has experienced some of the country’s longest lockdown restrictions, with reports of people left starving earlier in the year.

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2:40

Frustration grows as COVID-19 cases surge

China’s zero-COVID policy was initially well-received by citizens, who saw it as minimising deaths while other countries were battling huge casualties.

But support has fallen in recent months as Chinese people tire of restrictions that go far beyond what was seen during the UK’s lockdown, for example.

China is the only major country that is still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with mass testing and strict lockdowns.

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