Beijing: From Saturday night in China, people are taking to the streets to protest against the Covid Lockdown. People are calling for President Xi Jinping’s resignation. This is the first time such large-scale protests have been witnessed under a dictatorial regime. Three reasons are believed to be responsible for such a sudden violent protest. First is covid restrictions, second is police brutality and the third major reason is an apartment fire.
Protests have been going on in China for a long time against the restrictions of Corona, but now a fire in an apartment is considered responsible for these protests becoming fierce. Last Thursday in an apartment in Uramaki city. The fire broke out on November 21. 10 people died due to burns in this fire. People believe that due to the lockdown of Corona, people got trapped in it and people died. Relief work could not be done properly due to Corona restrictions. People could not escape and no one could come to their rescue.
Public protests rarely seen in China turned political on Sunday as demonstrators chanted slogans against President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party and defied strict Covid lockdowns in protests on university campuses in Beijing and Nanjing. Thousands of protesters clashed with police in Shanghai on Sunday. The exhibition, which started in Shanghai, has now reached Beijing, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Hotan, Nanjing and Wuhan.
Thousands of protesters gathered on Wullumuki Road in Shanghai on Saturday night despite a heavy police presence, with widespread protests on Sunday. Locals present at the protest site said the protest, which started on Sunday morning, intensified by mid-afternoon with the participation of hundreds of people. According to videos posted on social media of the protests in Shanghai, people were heard openly chanting slogans such as ‘Leave Xi Jinping’ and ‘Leave the Communist Party’.
The reporter said, the protest is extremely important. Because, the politics of covid policies reflect the wider political frustration, including the economic slowdown. Protesters elsewhere held blank white banners, while others lit candles and laid flowers for victims in Urumqi, where 10 people died in a building fire under a Covid lockdown on Thursday.
Just over a month into his third term in office, anti-lockdown protests have become a major challenge for Xi. Videos posted on social media showed police arresting several demonstrators in Shanghai amid angry mobs protesting their detention. Also, student protests erupted at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing as well as the University of Communication in Nanjing.
It may be mentioned here that restrictions including lockdown have been put in place under the zero covid policy of the government in China for a long time and yet now when the cases have increased, the embarrassment of the people is also increasing while the restrictions are being made more stringent and for the last two days it can be called unprecedented in China. Protests are being seen which became very intense today on Sunday.