Shanghai — Protesters in Shanghai, driven to the brink by China’s harsh COVID regulations, demanded the ouster of the country’s all-powerful leader and battled with police on Sunday, as throngs took to the streets in a stunning challenge to the regime.
Demonstrators in China’s financial capital who demanded Xi Jinping’s resignation and the end of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule were forcibly dispersed by police; however, hours later, demonstrators returned to the same location, and social media reports indicated protests had spread to at least seven other cities, including Beijing, and dozens of university campuses.
In China, where public manifestations of opposition are frequently suppressed, large-scale rallies are very unusual; but, a frontal rebuke of Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, is unprecedented.
China is the only large country still attempting to halt the spread of COVID-19, three years after the virus first appeared; their “zero COVID” policy often confines millions of people to their homes for weeks and demands near-constant testing. Initially, the policies were largely regarded as a means of avoiding mortality while other nations experienced terrible waves of illness, but in recent weeks, this agreement has began to erode.
Then, on Friday, ten people perished in an apartment building fire, and many feel that their rescue was delayed due to unnecessary lockdown procedures. This resulted in protests over the weekend, as the Chinese public’s tolerance for the tough measures has evidently reached its limit.
Saturday evening, hundreds of protestors gathered in Shanghai, which saw a disastrous lockdown in the spring during which residents battled to obtain food and medicine and were forcibly placed under centralized quarantine.
In this still from a video acquired by The Associated Press, police can be seen observing demonstrators in Shanghai on November 26, 2022. AP
On a boulevard named after the city in China’s far west where the fire occurred, one group of demonstrators brought candles, flowers, and placards to remember the victims. According to an anonymous demonstrator, another was more active, yelling slogans and singing the national song.
The Associated Press viewed a video of the rally in which the following slogans could be heard clearly: “Xi Jinping! CCP, you must step down!” Xi, probably China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, was recently appointed to another term as the chairman of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and some anticipate that he will attempt to remain in power indefinitely.
The demonstrator and another individual identified only by his surname Zhao verified the slogans. Both parties requested that their identities be concealed out of fear of arrest or punishment.
The protest environment prompted individuals to discuss forbidden themes, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, in which the governing Communist Party ordered forces to open fire on pro-democracy student protestors, the nameless protester stated. Some have also demanded a formal apology for the fatalities caused by the fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang. One member of the Xinjiang-native Uyghur ethnic minority, which has been the subject of a massive security crackdown, described his experiences with prejudice and police brutality.
“Everyone believes that the Chinese are frightened to demonstrate, that they lack bravery,” claimed the protester, who stated that this was his first time demonstrating. “In truth, this was also my innermost belief. However, when I arrived, I discovered that the milieu was such that everyone was quite courageous.”
Early on Sunday morning, what had been a tranquil atmosphere became violent. Hundreds of police officers encircled the demonstrators and dispersed the initial, more active group before attempting to relocate people off of the main roadway. The demonstrator stated that he witnessed numerous individuals being carried away in police vans, but he was unable to identify them.
In this screenshot taken from a social media video on November 27, 2022 in Shanghai, China, police officers keep watch as protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 rules. EVA RAMMELOO / Reuters
Zhao, the demonstrator, stated that cops assaulted one of his friends and pepper-sprayed two others. He said that cops stomped on his feet as he attempted to prevent them from removing his companion. Having lost his footwear, he left the demonstration barefoot.
According to Zhao, demonstrators shouted slogans, including one that has become a common rallying cry: “We do not want PCR testing; we want freedom.”
On Sunday afternoon, people came to the same location and protested PCR testing once more. People videotaped as the cops began to push individuals.
There were additional demonstrations at 50 campuses, according to a social media crowdsourced list. Social media videos purportedly shot in Nanjing in the east, Guangzhou in the south, Beijing in the north, and at least five other cities showed protestors clashing with police in white protective suits or removing barricades erected to close off communities. The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm every demonstration.
Tsinghua University students demonstrated in front of one of the school’s cafeterias on a Sunday afternoon in Beijing. Three young ladies originally displayed a modest message of sorrow for the victims of the Urumqi apartment fire, according to a witness who feared punishment and photographs of the protest obtained by the Associated Press.
Students screamed “free speech” and sung the communist song, the Internationale. At the demonstration, the school’s assistant Communist Party secretary promised to host a schoolwide debate.
In the meanwhile, two cities in China’s northwest, where inhabitants have been confined to their houses for up to four months, loosened certain anti-virus regulations on Sunday in response to Friday’s demonstrations.
State media stated that Urumqi and Korla were prepared to restore markets and other enterprises in regions assessed to pose a minimal risk of virus transmission, as well as to resume bus, rail, and plane service.
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