Europe 1 with AFP 10:19 a.m., November 27, 2022, modified at 10:20 a.m., November 27, 2022
Lockdown protests erupted Sunday in Shanghai, universities in Beijing and other cities across China, where anger is mounting at the draconian "zero Covid" policy practiced by the country's authorities for nearly three years.
A video widely circulated on the internet and which AFP has geolocated in Shanghai shows some protesters shouting "Xi Jinping, resign!"
and also to attack the Chinese Communist Party, a very rare demonstration of hostility against the president and the regime in the economic capital of the country, subjected at the beginning of the year to an exhausting two-month confinement.
Urumqi Road in Shanghai: the crowd chants "The Communist Party quits, Xi Jinping quits" in front of a row of police officers @whyyoutouzhelepic.twitter.com/KWFfYHOU3o
- The important (@Limportant_fr) November 26, 2022
This protest took place at dawn in Wulumuqi Street - the Mandarin name of the city of Urumqi in Xinjiang (west) where ten people died in a fire on Thursday.
Many posts circulating on social networks in China accuse the anti-Covid measures of having aggravated this tragedy by slowing down the arrival of relief.
Sheets of white paper to symbolize censorship
A person who took part in the protests in Shanghai told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that he arrived at around two in the morning at the rally.
"A group of mourners laid flowers on the sidewalk, another group chanted slogans," said this witness.
"There were a few minor scuffles but overall the policing was civilized," he continued.
"It's crazy to know that in these circumstances there are still so many brave people who stand out," he exclaimed.
Demonstration in support of Urumqi in Shanghai, and against health policy.
"We want freedom, democracy, freedom of expression of the press" ask the young people gathered (I let the Sinics appreciate this last slogan).
I've never seen this in China pic.twitter.com/nTSxRre1NP
— Simon Leplatre (@SLeplatre) November 26, 2022
Video taken by a witness showed a large crowd shouting while waving sheets of white paper - symbolizing censorship - in front of several cordons of police.
Several witnesses reported that at least two people were taken away by the security forces.
Sunday during the day, the neighborhood had become quiet again, under a strong police presence.
An AFP reporter saw people carrying flowers being approached by police and leaving.
"It's not a normal life, we've had enough"
Between 200 and 300 students from the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing also demonstrated on their campus on Sunday, according to an eyewitness interviewed by AFP and images posted on social networks.
He reported that around 11:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) a female student started by holding up a sheet of white paper and was joined by other women.
"We sang the national anthem and the International, and chanted: 'freedom will triumph', 'no PCR tests, we want food', 'no to confinements, we want freedom'", further said this witness.
On the internet, videos showed a crowd outside the university canteen, gathered around a speaker who shouted: "This is not a normal life, we have had enough. Our lives were not like this before! "
Another video apparently taken from the same location showed students shouting "democracy and rule of law, freedom of speech", but it was quickly removed from the internet.
Vigils in memory of the victims of the Urumqi fire have been held on other campuses across the country, including Peking University, which neighbors Tsinghua University, according to a student who attended.
According to this witness, the protesters began to gather on Saturday evening around midnight on campus, and the crowd reached between 100 and 200 people around 2 a.m.
"I heard people shouting: 'no to Covid tests, yes to freedom'", he said, showing AFP photos and videos corroborating his statements.
Videos on social media also showed a major vigil at the Institute of Communications in Nanjing (east) where participants also brandished sheets of white paper, as well as small gatherings in Xian, Wuhan (center) and Guangzhou ( south), but the authenticity of these images could not be verified by AFP.
Hashtags relating to the protests were censored on the Weibo platform and sensitive videos were deleted from the Duoyin and Kuaishou sharing sites.
The country continues to impose massive lockdowns
Sporadic and sometimes violent protests have already taken place across the country in recent days, including at the world's largest iPhone factory in central Zhengzhou, as well as in Urumqi after the fire.
Despite several vaccines available, and contrary to the rest of the world, the country continues to impose massive confinements as soon as the slightest case appears, to place in quarantine in centers those who test positive, and to require PCR tests almost - daily newspapers for access to public places.
>> READ ALSO -
China: large demonstrations in the largest iPhone factory in the world
The weariness of the population is great after almost three years of drastic restrictions.
A number of high-profile cases in which emergency services were allegedly slowed by health restrictions, with fatal consequences such as the Urumqi fire on Thursday, have fueled discontent.
China recorded 39,506 Covid cases on Sunday, a daily record that remains very low compared to figures recorded elsewhere in the world at the height of the pandemic.