Another 'Tiananmen Square'? China sees protests like never before over zero-COVID policy
Across cities in China, people have taken to the streets lighting candles and holding up blank pages in a rare act of defiance against President Xi Jinping’s autocratic zero-COVID policy. This is the largest anti-government demonstration since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest
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Chinese authorities are not just battling the rising COVID-19 cases, but also the rising anger among its citizens. Over the weekend, China saw rare protests breaking out as they demonstrate against the strict zero-COVID policies that have seen them being arrested, locked inside their homes for the past three years. AFP
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These are the largest anti-government protests since the Tiananmen Square massacre with protests erupting in at least seven cities over the country’s strict COVID rules. The largest of the demonstrations has taken place in Shanghai - home to 26 million residents - with many also boldly demanding that President Xi Jinping resign. AFP
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Along with chants of ‘Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!’ the protesters also yelled out, ‘We don’t want masks, we want freedom. We don’t want COVID tests, we want freedom.’ AFP
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On Monday as protests continued, the Chinese authorities arrested demonstrators, of which one was a BBC journalist. AFP
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Many of the protesters have been holding pieces of blank white paper - a symbolic protest against censorship. AFP
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Others lit candles and tea lights in memory of the victims who perished in the Urumqi fire on 24 November. AP
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At most protest sites, the police has been keeping a watchful eye. Some police officers walked through the crowd, filming the scenes. AP
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Other cities that have seen public dissent include Lanzhou in the northwest, where residents on Saturday overturned COVID staff tents and smashed testing booths, posts on social media showed. Protesters said they were put under lockdown even though no one had tested positive. AP
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Chinese police officers block off access to a site where protesters had gathered in Shanghai. AP
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The protests come amid China launching another mass crackdown on the virus with crippling lockdowns across the country, nearly three years after the pandemic started there. AP
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