A rare anti-Covid protest was staged today in Beijing with the authorities removing some
protest banners also against President Xi,
less than three days before the opening of the 20th Congress of the CCP which should give him an unprecedented third term in office. general secretary.
The story, which took place in the early afternoon, went viral on social media: on the banners placed on the Sitong bridge there were several slogans, including an appeal for the ouster of Xi (defined as a "traitor") and for the end of draconian policies. to contain Covid-19, based on multiple images and videos disseminated on Twitter.
In the videos on Twitter - blacked out in China - you can also see
the intervention of the police who allegedly arrested a man
.
In a short video, also, there was smoke coming from the roadway at the point where the banners were hung, as if to attract the attention of drivers and passers-by.
The area, in the northwest of the Chinese capital, is close to Zhongguancun, the university area.
On the spot, an overpass on the third ring road of Beijing in the Haidian district, ANSA was able to subsequently verify a reinforced police garrison throughout the area.
"
We don't want Covid tests, we want to eat;
we don't want lockdowns, we want to be free," a banner read.
The 'zero Covid' policy, strongly sponsored by Xi, caused heavy economic damage with the total and partial blockades and fueled widespread frustration in Chinese cities.
Even in Beijing, where political issues are taboo,
it is easy to pick up spontaneous and unsolicited outbursts, even from unsuspected people.
"We want votes, not leaders; we want dignity, not lies; we are citizens, not slaves", read another, linked to the authoritarian turn made by Xi who could in theory remain in power for life.
On social networks in Mandarin, starting from Weibo (the Chinese Twitter) searches on the 'Sitong bridge' have not yielded results, while in a few hours the hashtags on 'Haidian district', ended up in the Great Firewall censorship, evaporated.
'# Haidian # tiny spark,' wrote a Weibo user, alluding to Mao Zedong's popular revolutionary saying: "A little spark can ignite the prairie."