China posted another record high of COVID-19 infections on Monday, following an extraordinary weekend of nationwide protests over restrictive coronavirus restrictions in scenes unprecedented since President Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago.
In Shanghai, protesters and police clashed on Sunday after police took away a bus full of protesters, the BBC said, before police released one of its journalists covering the events several hours later. Done and taken into custody.
Stocks and oil fell sharply on Monday as rare protests raised concerns about the management of China’s zero-Covid policy and its impact on the world’s second-largest economy, while Chinese censors moved to remove related images and posts. They were beating hands and feet.
Over the weekend, protesters overturned COVID testing facilities in cities including Wuhan and Lanzhou, while students gathered on campuses across China in action, sparked by an apartment fire in the far western city of Urumqi last weekend. There were outbreaks in which 10 people were killed.
The deadly fire fueled speculation that COVID restrictions in the city, parts of which were locked down for 100 days, had hindered rescues and evacuations, which was denied by city officials. According to unverified videos on social media, crowds in Urumqi chanted “End the lockdown!” on Friday evening. Came down on the road raising slogans.