Clashes between Chinese protesters and police across the country have angered the Chinese Communist Party zero covid policy is growing
China’s COVID-19 authorities have relocated tens of thousands of people to camps after testing positive and imposed draconian lockdown measures, going so far as to lock some people’s doors shut. Widespread protests are rare in China’s repressive political environment, and police have cracked down on students and workers who dare to demonstrate.
Footage is emerging on social media showing police dragging out protesters in cities throughout China. In Guangzhou, scores of officers were filmed scuffling with a group of protesters before pulling one man away and knocking him to the ground.
Other officers were photographed pulling the arms and legs of another protester in Shanghai.
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A man is arrested as people gather on the street in Shanghai on November 27, 2022, where protests against China’s zero-proliferation policy took place the night before after a deadly fire in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang region. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
The protests themselves often refer to China’s efforts to suppress dissent, with protesters holding blank sheets of paper to symbolize their inability to express themselves freely.
Officers reportedly used pepper spray to disperse the initial rally in Shanghai, but soon began making arrests when protesters returned. Authorities filled the bus with those arrested, the Toronto Sun reports.
The footage, allegedly filmed in Nanjing, also showed officers struggling with groups of protesters, the Associated Press reported.
Some protesters reportedly chanted for the CCP and leader Xi Jinping to step down.
Protests broke out in part because of a house fire in China’s Xinjiang region that killed 10 people and injured several others. Citizens were outraged after reports that COVID-19 lockdown measures prevented emergency services from responding to the fire more quickly.
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The fire occurred in the city of Urumqi, and officials there soon easing of lockdown measures.
However, in night-time demonstrations, protesters tore down barriers and chanted in the streets, demanding an end to other measures.
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Even typically friendly to China World Health Organization criticized the CCP’s zero-Covid policy, claiming earlier this year that it was “not sustainable”.
