Mass protests are taking place in a number of Chinese cities, Reuters reports . They are caused by severe anti-COVID restrictions, which have lasted since August in some cities, and a fire in the city of Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
All this time, residents of some areas are practically forbidden to leave their apartments. On December 24, a fire broke out in a residential building in Urumqi, killing 10 people. The residents of the building were in quarantine. Information spread on social networks that it was precisely because of the restrictions that the victims could not get out of the house. The authorities deny this.
In Shanghai, the protesters also began to put forward political anti-government slogans. Approximately 300 people gathered for the protest at midnight. People shouted slogans "Xi Jinping, go away!" and "Communist Party, go away," reports the BBC. Many demonstrators were holding white sheets of paper, which symbolize defiance of Chinese censorship. The police used gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
China has a "zero tolerance" policy for COVID-19. This means that in order to limit the spread of the virus, measures such as lockdowns and mandatory quarantine for those who have come into contact with infected people are being implemented. At the same time, earlier in November, the country's authorities announced some easing of measures, in particular, a reduction in the period of self-isolation for those arriving in the country.