Zero-Tolerance: Chinese Lockdown Protests Intensify In Rare Display Of Defiance

SUNDAY, NOV 27, 2022 - 01:30 PM

Protests in China over President Xi Jinping's zero-tolerance Covid-19 measures have intensified - expanding from Beijing and the far western Xinjiang region to several other major cities, including Wuhan, Shanghai, and the eastern city of Nanjing, according to video and photos circulating on social media.



Students take part in a protest against COVID-19 curbs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, in a still from video released on Nov. 27, 2022. (Reuters)The weekend protests followed Friday demonstrations in Urumqi, the capitol of Xinjiang, after a deadly fire killed residents who were locked inside following lockdowns which have lasted more than 100 days. Officials have reported 10 deaths in the fire, however citizens have reported up to 40 who perished.



(2497) Sky News witnesses protests against strict COVID lockdown in Shanghai - YouTube


The protests are a rare display from a typically compliant citizenry, who know that crackdowns on dissent have intensified over the past decade. As the Wall Street Journal notes, " Having protests over the same issue break out in multiple Chinese cities is almost unheard of, outside of nationalist outpourings, such as anti-Japanese protests."
Since the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, the ruling party has allowed some local demonstrations, but made it a priority to prevent nationwide protests.
On Saturday, videos circulating on social media showed crowds gathering on a street in central Shanghai calling for a lifting of lockdowns. The videos were verified by Storyful, a social-media research company owned by News Corp, parent company of The Wall Street Journal. -WSJ


Insider Paper
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WATCH: Large protest at Beijing’s Tsinghua University in China over Covid lockdowns




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7:23 AM · Nov 27, 2022


Protests are calling for Xi Jinping to step down
During Saturday evening demonstrations in Shanghai - the largest city in the country, people were openly heard shouting anti-government slogans such as "Xi Jinping, step down!" and "Communist party, step down!" the BBC reports.



Eva Rammeloo
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Nov 26, 2022

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Replying to @eefjerammelooChilling. The national anthem. Especially that phrase ‘qi lai!’ (‘stand up!’). Never seen anything like this. Well, except in #HongKong…




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Eva Rammeloo
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‘Down with the party! Down with Xi Jinping!’ Free Xinjiang!’




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2:14 PM · Nov 26, 2022

Demonstrators held blank white banners and lit candles to honor the victims in the Urumqi fire.



There has been a large security presence around Urumqi Road, where people attempted to lay floral tributes for fire victims in UrumqiOne Shanghai protester told the BBC that he felt "shocked and a bit excited" at so many people in the streets - saying it was the first such large-scale demonstration of dissent. A woman told the BBC that police said they feel "the same as you" about the protests, but "they wear their uniforms so they're doing their job."




David Moser
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I've lived in China for 30 years, and I've never seen such a brazenly open and sustained expression of rage against the PRC govt. WeChat is exploding with protest videos and furious vitriol, and civil disobedience is becoming rampant. This is a serious test of CCP governance.

10:00 AM · Nov 26, 2022

As the Epoch Times notes; At Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University, dozens of people held a peaceful protest against COVID-19 restrictions, according to images and videos posted on social media.



William Yang
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Replying to @WilliamYang120More from protesters who participated in #Shanghai's protest: "The main demand was to put an end to the zero-Covid measures. Some people expressed their dissatisfaction with the Communist Party, while others mourned the death of those in the fire in Urumqi."

9:44 PM · Nov 26, 2022

In one video, which Reuters was unable to verify, a Tsinghua university student called on a cheering crowd to speak out. “If we don’t dare to speak out because we are scared of being smeared, our people will be disappointed in us. As a Tsinghua university student, I will regret it for all my life.”



Tom Mackenzie
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Protests in China are not rare. What *is* rare, are multiple protests over the same issue, at the same time, across the country. The protest below, apparently in central Beijing’s liangmaqiao, is astounding #China#protests




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1:28 PM · Nov 27, 2022

One student who saw the Tsinghua protest described to Reuters feeling taken aback by the protest at one of China’s most elite universities, and Xi’s alma mater.
“People there were very passionate, the sight of it was impressive,” the student said, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.



Emily Feng 冯哲芸
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Tsinghua university right now city after city seeing protests small and large against Zero Covid policies and against excesses of Communist Party rule - every hour there seems to be a new one





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2:33 AM · Nov 27, 2022 from Taipei City, Taiwan




Tony Lin 林東尼
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One good thing this site actually facilitates: in the past 48 hrs, numerous mini-protests took place across various Chinese college campus against zero COVID policy. Many are censored but they ended up on Twitter, then ppl get to smuggle them back behind GFW, even just briefly

















9:54 AM · Nov 26, 2022


According to the report, "analysts say the government appears to have drastically underestimated growing discontent towards the zero-Covid approach, a policy inextricably linked to Xi Jinping who recently pledged there would be no swerving from it.".



Disclose.tv
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NOW - People tear down barricades in #Wuhan. Anti-lockdown protests are spreading to more and more cities in China.




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6:05 AM · Nov 27, 2022


In other areas of the country witnesses gave accounts of police violence, with one protesters telling AP (so who knows if it's true) that one of his friends had been beaten by police, while two others were pepper sprayed.
The BBC saw police officers, private security guards and plain-clothed police officers on the streets, confronting protesters who assembled for a second day.


Demonstrators who led anti-government chants were taken away, and punched or pushed up against a police car in some cases.

Photos and videos have also emerged online that showed students launching their own protests at universities in Beijing and Nanjing on Saturday. -BBC





Joyce Karam
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Flower vs. Police: A protestor in Shanghai, #China, gets taken by security as he was preparing to give a speech. Residents try to grab him back…




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9:12 AM · Nov 27, 2022


On Sunday, hundreds of people were seen demonstrating in Wuhan, where the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Meanwhile...




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New isolation camp just dropped.



NEXTA
@nexta_tv
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Nov 25

For the second day in a row, China has recorded an explosive increase in coronavirus infections.In the city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, which has the largest number of cases, the construction of a quarantine center for 80,000 people has begun.



4:22 PM · Nov 26, 2022·Twitter for Android<--- Video

And of course, Taylor Lorenz is cheering China's zero-covid policy.




Stephen L. Miller
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Lorenz just out here cheerleading China's welding people in their apartments lockdown zero covid policy and it's all good I guess.








9:14 PM · Nov 26, 2022

These people would murder us if they thought they could get away with it. That sounds crazy and wacky, or it did until the last couple years. Tell me it’s false. https://t.co/oZ4ptWNKs3
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) November 27, 2022


Zero-Tolerance: Chinese Lockdown Protests Intensify In Rare Display Of Defiance | ZeroHedge