"End the lockdown!": Open protests against China's zero-Covid strategy in the streets

Created: 11/26/2022, 5:08 p.m

By: Miriam Haberhauer

In China, displeasure with the government's zero-Covid strategy is growing.

There have now been open protests against the current corona measures in several cities.

Beijing – At least ten people were killed in a house fire in the Chinese province of Xinjiang last Thursday (November 24).

Numerous residents then criticized on social media that the strict corona measures had hindered the rescue work of the fire brigade.

In north-western Ürümqi and in Beijing, hundreds of people have now vented their anger in open protests.

China's zero-Covid policy: open protests in Beijing and Ürümqi

Several videos in the Chinese online media showed scenes of the protests in the metropolis of Ürümqi on Saturday.

It showed people breaking through lockdown metal fences and protesting.

Some of the protesters shout: "End the lockdown!".

Large parts of the Xinjiang region and the capital there, Ürümqi, have been cordoned off for more than 100 days.

There were also protests in the capital Beijing, where a number of residential complexes are also in lockdown, as videos show.

In several neighborhoods, residents broke through the fences of their settlement.

There, too, the local authorities were asked to lift the strict measures against the further spread of the pandemic.

Such open protests are unusual in the communist-ruled People's Republic of more than 1.4 billion people.

Workers in hazmat suits stand guard at a barricade.

A record wave of new corona infections is leading to ever greater restrictions on the population in China.

© picture alliance/Andy Wong

Locked apartment doors, fear of violations: Covid measures impede firefighting

The trigger for the protest movements was an apartment fire in Ürümqi on Thursday evening.

At least ten people died in the blaze and nine others were injured.

A number of residents criticized on social networks that the strict corona measures had made firefighting more difficult.

Locked apartment doors would have prevented residents from escaping to the outside.

In addition, some tenants fled their apartments too late or not at all for fear of violating the curfew.

The local fire brigade also arrived too late because of lattice fences and cars standing in the way.

Highest corona numbers since the beginning of the pandemic: China still in a state of emergency

In the past few months, there had already been isolated unrest in China due to the strict corona policy.

The exit restrictions are an existential threat, especially for migrant workers who do not have large savings.

China is currently suffering from the highest corona numbers since the beginning of the pandemic.

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On Saturday, the Health Commission in Beijing reported a record number of almost 35,000 new cases.

Extensive restrictions on movement apply in cities with over a million inhabitants such as Beijing, the hard-hit southern Chinese city of Guangzhou or Chongqing.

While the rest of the world has long been living with the virus, China is sticking to its strict zero-Covid strategy.

Residential areas are cordoned off in individual cases.

Contact persons come to quarantine camps.

Infected people are isolated in the hospital.

Even after almost three years of the pandemic, China's international borders are largely closed.

German companies are also affected by China's strict corona measures - German companies have to be prepared for "serious effects".