Protests erupted in China’s Shanghai on Saturday night against Beijing’s strict Covid-19 policy. Several videos have emerged on social media which showcased people chanting slogans against restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to curb the spread of Covid.
Expressing anger over the stringent Covid policy, Chinese citizens took to the streets in large numbers. Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Shanghai, China’s most populous city and financial hub, on Sunday afternoon to hold what appeared to be a silent protest near where a demonstration against China’s zero-Covid policy erupted in the early hours.
Residents gathered on Saturday night at the city’s Wulumuqi Road – which borrows its name from Urumqi – for a vigil that turned into a protest in the early hours of Sunday.
“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.
Videos from Shanghai widely shared on Chinese social media showed crowds facing dozens of police and calling out chants including: “Serve the people”, “We don’t want health codes” and “We want freedom,” reported The Straits Times.
Some social media users posted screenshots of street signs for Wulumuqi Road, both to evade censors and show support for protesters in Shanghai. Others shared comments or posts calling for all of “you brave young people” to be careful. Many included advice on what to do if police came or started arresting people during a protest or vigil.
Demonstrators holding blank pieces of paper and white flowers stood silently at several intersections, the person said under condition of anonymity, before police officers eventually moved to clear the blocked roads.
Shanghai’s 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, an ordeal that provoked anger and protest. Chinese authorities have since then sought to be more targeted in their Covid-19 curbs. But that effort has been challenged by a surge in infections as China faces its first winter with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The protests erupted after 10 people died and nine others were injured in an apartment fire in Urumqi.
According to a video posted by DW News East Asia Correspondent William Yang on Twitter, people at ‘Urumqi Road’ held a protest against Xi Jinping-led Chinese Communist Party (CCP), chanting slogans like “Step down the Communist Party” and “the Communist Party, Step down. Xi Jinping, step down.”
In a series of tweets regarding the protests in Shanghai, William Yang said that countless people gathered on Urumqi Road and chanted slogans, “I don’t want PCR test, I want freedom.” In another tweet, William Yang said, people in ‘Urumqi Road’ also called for ending the lockdown in Xinjiang. “Citizens chanting #Xinjiang, end lockdown, #Xinjiang, end lockdown,” Yang wrote on Twitter.
Continuing the thread, he said that a scuffle broke out between people and police at the site of a protest in Shanghai. In a tweet, William Yang said, “Police surrounded the last few dozens of protesters at the scene in Shanghai and some women were reportedly taken away.”
“Incredible footage from #China’s #Shanghai, where countless people gathered at a road called “#Urumqi
road,” chanting the slogan “Step down, the Communist Party” very loudly,” William Yang wrote on Twitter. Notably, the Chinese government has been adhering to strict Covid-19 policy in order to curb the spread of the virus ever since the pandemic emerged in China.
The restrictions imposed by the Chinese government include strict lockdowns, travel restrictions and mass testing.
While sharing the protest video on Twitter, Axial Vibe Studio Co-founder Vivian Wu wrote, “Scale of the protest tonight in Shanghai. Notice police didn’t do anything but stand calmly watching ppl protest and shout. It’s not benevolence. My guess: they need to ask for directives from the top authorities. Police might be stunned as nobody dares to do so for decades.”
China defends President Xi Jinping’s signature zero-Covid-19 policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the healthcare system. Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world’s second-biggest economy.