Protests against coronavirus restrictions continue in China

Protests against coronavirus restrictions have begun in Shanghai and other cities in China. According to Reuters, these actions have reached an unprecedented scale for China – there have been no such demonstrations for the entire 10 years of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s rule. The protesters are unhappy with the harsh restrictions imposed against the backdrop of another surge in the incidence, and in some cases are moving to political demands. Like “Xi Jinping, go away!”.

On November 26-27, street demonstrations took place in the cities of Wuhan and Chengdu, and protests took place at universities throughout China. On November 28, two groups of about 1,000 protesters gathered in Beijing near the Liangmya River. Demonstrators in Beijing demanded the abolition of the mask regime and mandatory testing for the coronavirus. Protests in Shanghai began on November 27.

People gathered for a memorial action in honor of the victims of the November 24 fire in the city of Urumqi. Then a high-rise residential building caught fire, and as a result of the tragedy, at least 10 people died. The public blamed the authorities for what happened, as they had previously declared a strict quarantine, and residents were not allowed out of their homes for about 100 days. It was precisely such harsh measures that allegedly prevented the victims from escaping from the fire. The official authorities of Urumqi deny their involvement in the tragedy and do not link the deaths of people with the lockdown in the city. However, against the background of the incident, the government went to some easing of anti-COVID measures in Beijing and Guangzhou, and also banned the blocking of emergency exits in buildings under quarantine, the South China Morning Post reported.