Rare public protests opposing China's stringent COVID-19 lockdowns intensified in China, while coronavirus cases continue to rise sharply with close to 40,000 infections reported on Sunday, agencies reported.
Chinese social media and Twitter have many videos of public protests, including a mass demonstration in Shanghai where people in a rare display of anger shouted slogans against the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and President Xi Jinping.
Many protesters were reportedly being arrested.
There are also videos of protests from various university campuses where students came out in the open to oppose the lockdowns.
In some parts of Beijing, the capital city where security measures are among the tightest in the country, residents were marching out of closed-off compounds earlier Saturday, with some demanding to ease what they called excessive
Covid restrictions, according to videos on social media and locals who participated in the actions.
“Lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!” the crowds in Shanghai shouted, according to a video circulated on social media.
At one point a large group began shouting, “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping, free Urumqi!”, according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the Chinese leadership.
On Saturday, the government stepped back from enforcing lockdowns in Urumqi, the provincial capital of Xinjiang, where 10 people were killed and nine others injured on Thursday in a fire at an apartment block which was under
COVID lockdown.
During the weekend, Urumqi witnessed a huge demonstration in which many Han Chinese nationals took part along with Uygur Muslims.
The footage of protests, which was later censored, showed hundreds of residents in a public square outside a government office, chanting slogans “serve the people” and “end the lockdown”, and singing the national anthem.
Other clips showed scuffles between residents and people in hazmat suits in the street.
In Beijing, people from several compounds, under lockdowns for days, also staged protests, leading to officials withdrawing the curbs.
Meanwhile, the National Health Commission on Sunday said 39,501 coronavirus cases, including 35,858 asymptomatic cases, were reported in the country by the end of Saturday as mass COVID tests were carried out across China to identify new clusters of infection.
It is for the fourth consecutive day that
China reported an increase in cases, the highest since it recorded a sharp spike in cases in top cities like Shanghai in April.
The capital Beijing has been reporting a sharp escalation of cases, which on Sunday climbed to over 4,700, amid growing protests and unease in the city over lockdowns of dozens of apartment buildings.
As of Sunday, the city has 9,694 cumulative confirmed cases.
-With agencies inputs
