China: Unprecedented Protests Over COVID Policies

The Chinese are starting to get really frustrated with President Xi Jinping’s draconian COVID policies. 

Though it’s been nearly three years since we heard the rumor about a dangerous virus escaping from Wuhan, the nation’s residents are still bound by restrictions that impact daily life.

Last weekend, thousands of people took to the streets in major cities and universities in a rare display of public disobedience. 

Residents trapped in locked-down areas burst through barriers to get to the streets and people in Wuhan and Lanzhou destroyed COVID testing sites.

“Our COVID-19 policy is a game and is not based on science or reality,” complains Shanghai resident Shaun Xiao. 

“We don’t want masks, we want freedom,” chanted a group of protestors that clashed with police Monday near Beijing’s Liangma River. “We don’t want COVID tests, we want freedom!”

The protests were sparked by a fire that killed ten people (including four young children) in Xinjiang’s capital city of Urumqi on November 24th. Their deaths were blamed on lockdown measures that made it difficult to evacuate the building. 

Video footage of a candlelight vigil held in the victims’ honor was immediately removed from social media by CCP content moderators. Other censored videos showed police shoving, dragging, kicking, and beating protestors.

“People have been wanting to protest for a long time,” says Beijing resident Morris Yao says. “They just needed an opening.”

Residents living in Urumqi have been subject to some of the harshest restrictions throughout the pandemic – including being trapped inside their homes for up to 100 days at a time.

“We just want our basic human rights,” argues a 26-year-old who joined the protests. “The people here aren’t violent, but the police are arresting them for no reason…We can’t leave our homes without getting a test. It was the accident in Xinjiang that pushed people too far.”

Most of the protestors called for an end to COVID policies, but some were brave enough to demand the removal of the CCP and President Xi. “We don’t want lifelong rulers! We don’t want emperors!” shouted a group of protestors Sunday in Chengdu. 

At Peking University, officials smeared black paint over a sign that read: “Open your eyes and look at the world, dynamic zero-COVID is a lie!” 

President Xi, who recently secured a third term as leader of the CCP, has touted his “zero-COVID policy” even while the nation continues to struggle against the highly-transmissible Omicron variant. 

China reported 40,052 new infections on Saturday – the 6th consecutive day of record figures. And while Xinjiang authorities announced lockdown measures would be lifted for low-risk neighborhoods on Saturday, a harsh crackdown conducted the following Monday makes this statement hard to believe. 

Sources:

Protests in Shanghai and Beijing as Anger Over China’s COVID Curbs Mounts 

Protests erupt across China in unprecedented challenge to Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy 

China COVID: Protests continue in major cities across the country 

How a deadly fire in Xinjiang prompted protests unseen in China in three decades