Chinese protesters are clashing with police across the country as outrage against the Chinese Communist Party’s zero-COVID policy grows.
Chinese COVID-19 authorities have relocated tens of thousands of people to camps after they tested positive and have imposed draconian lockdown measures, going so far as to weld some people’s doors. Widespread protests are rare in China’s repressive political environment, and the police are cracking down on students and workers who dare to demonstrate.
Social media footage appears to show police dragging protesters away in cities across China. In Guangzhou, several officers were filmed clashing with a group of protesters before dragging a man away and knocking him to the ground.
Other officers were photographed dragging another protester by the hands and feet in Shanghai.
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A man is arrested as people gather on a street in Shanghai November 27, 2022, where protests against China’s zero-Covid policy had taken place the night before following a deadly fire in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
The protests themselves often reference China’s efforts to crack down on dissent, with protesters holding up pieces of white paper to symbolize their inability to speak freely.
Officers reportedly used pepper spray to disperse an initial demonstration in Shanghai, but soon began making arrests when protesters returned. Authorities filled a bus with those they arrested, according to the Toronto Sun.
Footage allegedly shot in Nanjing also showed officers grappling with groups of protesters, according to the Associated Press.
Some protesters reportedly incited the CCP and leader Xi Jinping to step down.
The protests erupted in part because of a fire at an apartment building in China’s Xinjiang region that killed 10 people and injured many more. Citizens were outraged after reports suggested COVID-19 lockdown measures had prevented first responders from making a quicker response to the blaze.
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The fire occurred in Urumqi city and officials soon eased lockdown measures.
However, late night demonstrations saw protesters tear down barriers and sing in the streets calling for an end to other measures.
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Even the typically pro-China World Health Organization has criticized the CCP’s zero-Covid policy, arguing earlier this year that it was not “sustainable.”
