Shanghai/Beijing/Berlin In China, dissatisfaction with the Chinese government’s strict corona measures is growing. There were protests against the restrictions and lockdowns in various cities and at universities over the weekend. The largest known demonstration took place on Saturday evening in the financial metropolis of Shanghai, where an estimated 300 protesters gathered at times.
What started as a vigil for 10 people who died in a high-rise fire in the western Chinese city of Urumqi expanded overnight into protests against the zero-Covid policy and even against state and party leader Xi Jinping himself. Such expressions of dissatisfaction are extremely unusual in the authoritarian country, because any criticism of the state leadership is punished rigorously.
It is the first time that this has happened under Xi’s aegis, stresses Ian Bremmer, president of the think tank Eurasia Group. All reports of the protests are censored on China’s social media. However, videos and references to the demonstrations were distributed in private chats.
Read on now
Get access to this and every other article in the
Web and in our app free of charge for 4 weeks.
Continue
Read on now
Get access to this and every other article in the
Web and in our app free of charge for 4 weeks.
Continue