TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Anti-lockdown and anti-government protests spread on Sunday (Nov. 27) from Shanghai to Beijing, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Guangzhou, with protesters in Shanghai heard calling for Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) and the Chinese Communist Party to step down.
Many protests have broken out across China since a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi, Xinjiang killed 10 and injured nine on Nov. 24, with many suspecting the deaths were caused by COVID restrictions that prevented residents from escaping the blaze.
Shanghai
In Shanghai, following the mourning for the victims of the fire in Urumqi and the protests late last Saturday night (Nov. 26), a crowd gathered again on Sunday afternoon. As police arrested protesters, angry participants could be heard shouting "Let them go!"
Video surfaced early on Sunday morning showing protesters clearly shouting "Communist Party, step down!" and "Xi Jinping, step down!"
At about 5 p.m. on Sunday, police reinforcements were dispatched to Urumqi Road to put up roadblocks to prevent people from gathering there. That evening, word spread on Chinese social media networks that many protesters in Shanghai had been forcibly taken away by police or plainclothes officers, and the street sign "Urumqi Road" at the protest site was also taken down.
Breaking News：Chinese Protestors in Shanghai chanting “Xi Jinping, step down！Communist Party, step down！”
This is huge!
pic.twitter.com/mn1AeaN2EV
— Inty (@__Inty__) November 26, 2022
英国 伦敦 中国大使馆前
人们在高喊 习近平，下台 pic.twitter.com/y07MKU8KRU
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
这个视频长：“习近平，下台”。 pic.twitter.com/yWksKJ1kQe
— Petrichor (@Jam79922967) November 26, 2022
Beijing
In China's capital city, about a thousand students were seen protesting at Tsing Hua University during the day on Sunday chanting slogans such as "democracy and the rule of law, freedom of expression." In the evening, throngs of police and protesters could be seen facing off with each other along the 3rd Ring Road near the Liangma River.
Some people could be seen holding up blank, white sheets of paper in a passive form of protest. Another video shows a huge mob attempting to knock over a white truck in the Liangmaqiao area.
北京 亮马桥附近
警察正在清场劝离 pic.twitter.com/mC8M1SRtXK
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
Protests in China are not rare. What *is* rare, are multiple protests over the same issue, at the same time, across the country. The protest below, apparently in central Beijing’s liangmaqiao, is astounding #China #protests pic.twitter.com/UHJCqqF1YG
— Tom Mackenzie (@TomMackenzieTV) November 27, 2022
Chengdu
Videos posted on Twitter accounts such as "China Forbidden" and "Li is not your teacher" showed crowds gathered at Wangping Street in Chengdu City on the evening of Nov. 27. Protestors could be heard shouting slogans such as "human rights," "no life tenure," "oppose dictatorship," "freedom of speech," and "give me freedom or give me death."
Scenes from the videos appear to show crowds may have been in the thousands.
成都 望平街 现在
民众举着白纸高喊 不自由 毋宁死 pic.twitter.com/rnBWCw0X73
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
成都 东门大桥 pic.twitter.com/9YFEivyhRm
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
成都望平滨河路 此刻
民众高喊 新闻自由 言论自由 pic.twitter.com/tBMvmS1TJM
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
Wuhan
In Wuhan, where the pandemic first emerged, hundreds of people were seen in a video posted by "China Forbidden" protesting COVID restrictions on Hanzheng Street. In a second video posted in the same thread, a large group of protestors can be seen shouting at and fighting with police.
Real China(54):Wu Han people protest for China restriction in Covid.(2)武汉同胞走上汉正街抗议，和武警爆发冲突 #Wuhan #chinalockdown #汉正街 pic.twitter.com/W7S6T3ZUQA
— China Forbidden中国禁闻 (@yeyouwei3) November 27, 2022
上海，乌鲁木齐路与安福路路口
一男子举着花演讲，随后被警察逮捕
几个居民上前阻止 pic.twitter.com/yWqR8F4Fn4
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
Guangzhou
In Guangzhou's Haizhu District, residents on Sunday evening staged a protest in a park and demanded that the lockdown on the district be lifted. There was a standoff with police for about an hour before officers moved in to start arresting protesters in Haizhu Plaza.
广州海珠桥 最新情况
警察把整个公园围住 目前对峙了一个小时 pic.twitter.com/Oqg2bwvAlE
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
广州海珠桥 最新情况
警察把整个公园围住 目前对峙了一个小时 pic.twitter.com/Oqg2bwvAlE
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
广州 海珠广场 有人被抓 pic.twitter.com/OZQRC8e3Kl
— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) November 27, 2022
