Protests spread over covid curbs

Angry crowds took to the streets in Shanghai early yesterday, and videos on social media showed protests in cities across China, as public opposition to the government's zero-Covid policy mounts.

A fire on Thursday that killed 10 people in a high-rise in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, has sparked public anger. Many internet users surmised that residents could not escape because the building was partially locked down, while officials denied it.

Similar demonstrations were seen in Beijing's Tsinghua University yesterday, where hundreds of elite students protested against lockdowns, following an overnight rally at neighboring Peking University.

At the University of Hong Kong, a handful of mainland students held up posters and laid flowers for the fire victims in Urumqi in the Pok Fu Lam campus yesterday. The university reported to police and officers arriving at the scene recorded the students' personal information. No one was taken away.

The fire has fueled a wave of civil disobedience unprecedented in mainland China since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

In Shanghai, residents gathered at 2am yesterday at Wulumuqi Road - named after Urumqi - to place flowers on the sidewalk to mourn the 10 people killed in the fire, while a group chanted slogans.

As a large group of police looked on, the crowd held up blank sheets of paper - a protest symbol against censorship.

Later, they shouted, "lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!"

At another point a large group began shouting political slogans, according to witnesses, in a rare public protest against the country's leadership.

A protester said there were minor clashes but that overall the police were "civilized." However, the Associated Press cited a witness as saying pepper spray was used against 300 people, while witnesses said a couple of people were taken away.

In the Peking University protest, an undergraduate participant said some anti-Covid slogans had been graffitied on the university wall.

People had started gathering from around midnight local time, but he hadn't dared join initially. "When I arrived [two hours later], I think there were at least 100 people there, maybe 200," he said.

"At first, they sang The Internationale. Later, some students started shouting slogans but I heard people yelling: 'No to Covid tests, yes to freedom!'"

The students were communicating with security guards and teachers, he said, but it is unclear if they will face charges.

Up to 300 students from the capital's top Tsinghua University also took part in anti-lockdown protests yesterday.

A Tsinghua student said: "At 11.30am students started holding up signs at the canteen entrance, then more and more people joined. Now there are 200 to 300 people."

The witness said the first protester was a student who held up a blank paper and was joined by other women doing the same.

"We sang the national anthem and The Internationale, and chanted 'freedom will prevail,' 'no nucleic acid tests, we want food,' 'no to lockdowns, we want freedom,'" they said, referring to the left-wing anthem.

Photos showed a throng gathered in a courtyard outside Tsinghua's Zijingyuan canteen, some holding sheets of paper.

Corresponding videos shared online showed a crowd in the same location, gathered around a speaker shouting: "This is not normal life, we've had enough. Our lives were not like this before!"

Internet sources said Tsinghua's deputy party secretary Guo Yong had promised students will not be taken accountable for the protest and that the school will observe a moment of silent for the Urumqi victims.

He is also said to have told students he will hold a seminar to listen to students' opinions on the school and Covid curbs.

Hashtags relating to the protest were censored on Weibo, including Duoyin and Kuaishou. Videos from Xi'an, Guangzhou and Wuhan shows similar protests, though it cannot be verified.

China's cases have hit record highs for days, with 39,506 new cases yesterday.U

Meanwhile, Shenzhen saw 83 local infections yesterday, prompting authorities to cap services at restaurants, gyms, cinemas and museums to 50 percent.

People must hold negative PCR result taken over the last 24 hours to enter residential districts, supermarkets and offices.

Zhengzhou in Henan, where iPhone factory Foxconn is located, will return to "dynamic zero phase" from Wednesday, after five days of partial lockdown.