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China: COVID cases resurge after weekend of protests

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:


  • A rare show of dissent against Chinese President Xi Jinping was seen over a weekend of protests across the country.
  • Protesters rallied against the country’s restrictive COVID policies, chanting for the end of the lockdown.
  • COVID cases surged on Monday, with new local cases rising for the fifth day in a row.

A wave of protests spread across China during the weekend over its restrictive COVID policies, leading to another resurgence in coronavirus cases on Monday. Protesters took to the streets and made rare displays of dissent against President Xi Jinping.

On Sunday, police clashed with protesters in Shanghai. A busload of demonstrators were taken away. BBC reported that one of its journalists was assaulted and detained for several hours by the police while he was covering the events.

https://twitter.com/Shanghaishang10/status/1596875911457959938?s=20&t=gYjMuKUT6V_IsfhqUXVd8g

Over the weekend, protests in several cities such as Lanzhou and Wuhan led to overturned COVID testing facilities. Students gathered to mourn over last week’s apartment fire in Urumqi, which killed 10 people.

Protesters believe that the COVID lockdown, which lasted for 100 days in some areas, hindered rescue and escape from the deadly fire. City authorities denied the speculations. Chants of “End the lockdown!” rang across the streets of Urumqi on Friday evening.

Past midnight on Sunday, large crowds gathered along Beijing’s 3rd Ring Road. Early Monday, a group chanted “we don’t want COVID tests, we want freedom.” Protesters held up blank white pieces of paper, which recently served as symbols of protest.

Passing vehicles honked their horns in solidarity, leading to further cheers from the crowds.

Dozens of uniformed officers, security personnel in plain clothing, and police cars followed the protesters. Beijing’s police chief addressed the protesters via loudspeaker, urging them to go home. He told them, “You young people. You need to go home now. You’re affecting traffic here by standing on the road.”

Early on Sunday, a big crowd chanted, “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping!”

While most countries have lifted restrictions, Xi’s zero-COVID policy has continued. The nation tried to loosen its restrictions earlier this month, but the recent resurgence in cases frustrated hopes of reopening soon.

New local cases continued to rise for the fifth day in a row on Monday, with daily cases rising from 39,506 to 40,052. Several cities reported hundreds of infections on Sunday while mega-cities like Chongqing and Guangzhou struggled to contain outbreaks involving thousands of cases.

According to experts, China will unlikely reopen before March or April, adding that it still needs to expand its vaccination efforts.

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On Monday, stocks dropped sharply as investors worried about China’s management of its zero-COVID policy. Meanwhile, Chinese officials rushed to censor related posts and images.

Source: Reuters

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2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. CPO Bill

    November 28, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    xi will kill em all!

  2. Sean Rickman

    November 29, 2022 at 9:24 pm

    China and their anti AMERICAN”buddies”in power in our country supported this and now china is paying for their production of this germ warfare and did our so called”elites”in government know about this long before it”accidentally happened”.

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