Demonstrations against the restrictions imposed by China in the ‘covid zero’ strategy spread this weekend to major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, according to images released on social networks.
Protests intensified after 10 people were killed in a building fire attacked in Urumqi on Thursday.
According to videos and testimonials circulating on social media, outrage on Friday that flooded the heavily censored Chinese internet turned Saturday into memorial vigils for the victims, with many users noting that the victims have spent the last 100 days of their lives in confinement. . at home.
While official media does not report the incidents, videos on Saturday showed dozens of people breaking down fences used by authorities to block off the sprawling Tiantongyuan housing complex in northern Beijing.
The Chinese capital, especially protected against outbreaks since 2020, is now experiencing the highest levels of contagion: according to the latest official report, more than 4,300 new cases were detected on Saturday, 82% of which were asymptomatic.
These figures, low by international standards but intolerable for the Chinese authorities, have resulted in restrictions and confinements that affect a large part of the population of the capital, as has already happened this year in other parts of the country, such as Urumqi or Shanghai. . , which this year went through a harsh confinement that lasted more than two months in some areas.
Precisely in that city, and precisely on Urumqi street, hundreds of people gathered on Saturday night to hold a vigil in memory of those killed in the fire and which was generally peaceful, according to testimonies on the internet, but with some assuring that they had stopped. place taken.
The footage shows groups of protesters chanting “Those of you who refuse to be slaves, stand up” – a line from the Chinese national anthem – or “The Internationale”, chanting “we want freedom” and calling for an end to tests and codes. QR. , in reference to the obligation to scan health QR codes with a mobile application at the entrance of any establishment or even in the parks, so that, when the authorities detect a contagion, they can determine who has had contact with that person at a time given.
At one point in the evening, a group of people chanted “Down with the Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping,” in a rare public show of disapproval of the country’s leader’s policies.
According to the specialized portal What’s On Weibo, numerous users of the Weibo social network -the local equivalent of Twitter, which is censored in the country- expressed their support for the vigil, but, above all, they asked the participants to protect themselves, before the censors. . of the platform prohibit comments.
The same “site” announced that, at a university in Nanjing, numerous students gathered on campus on Saturday night and turned on the flashlights of their mobiles, in a vigil in memory of those killed in Urumqi.
Meanwhile, at another university, in this case in Xian, a city that has also experienced severe lockdowns, a group of students took to the streets of the campus to show their discontent with the anti-Covid-19 lockdowns, which have had a significant impact. in the national economy.
The Asian giant, practically isolated from the rest of the world since the beginning of 2020, has suffered numerous waves of outbreaks since the beginning of this year, which has endangered the country’s zero tolerance strategy against the coronavirus, since several infections have been registered . registered higher than at the beginning of the pandemic.
According to data from the National Health Commission, China has broken the record for infections in the last 24 hours by detecting almost 40,000 new cases this Saturday, although more than 90% are asymptomatic cases.
Official figures show that around 1.8 million people are currently in quarantine, since the guideline is to transfer cases -including asymptomatic ones- and also, but separately, those who have had contact with those infected, to hospitals or isolation centers.
Source: TSF
