Covid-19 in China: demonstrations in Urumqi for the lifting of containment
Picture taken in Shanghai, China, November 25, 2022. REUTERS - ALY SONG
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
“Mass incidents” are on the rise in China.
The inhabitants of megalopolises demonstrate against the health restrictions reinforced with the outbreak of cases of contamination.
Example this Friday evening in Urumqi, where the inhabitants went in front of the official buildings to demand the end of the confinement.
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With our correspondent in Beijing
,
Stéphane Lagarde
In Shanghai, it was the
pot concerts
,
in Urumqi it was the slogans.
“Jiě fēng”, these two characters, the same, as if everyone had given themselves the word, two Mandarin characters heard throughout the city this Friday evening: “Jiě fēng”, “Jiě fēng”, “lift the confinement!
".
The capital of Xinjiang has been closed to the rest of the world for 110 days.
Tonight the lid came off.
In the district of Shayibak, in the city center, then in other residential communities, the inhabitants took to the streets and calmly, filming themselves with their cell phones, to demand a relaxation of sanitary measures.
In videos circulating on Douyin social media and Twitter, crowds gathered in front of official buildings.
In front of the town hall of Urumqi in particular, a woman shouts into a megaphone.
She again asks the authorities to unblock the city.
Elsewhere, the national anthem is sung under the red and gold flag.
This is not the first time residents have protested in Urumqi.
In early September, confined people in Xinjiang
had called for help on social media
, drawing attention to the pain of the prolonged lockdowns.
The officials then apologized for the “
gaps
” in the epidemic prevention and control policy.
Questioned by residents, Ma Zhijun, deputy secretary of the municipal party committee in Urumqi did not give a date for the release of this endless day.
"
Containment started this summer and it's already winter
",
recently commented a surfer
on the verge of depression, when residents were banned from leaving the city last month.
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