Chinese police have taken action against protests unfolding in several cities across the country, as authorities in some regions have begun to change the harsh COVID-19 restrictions that are fueling the unrest.
Anger erupted after a fire at a tower in Urumqi, in far western Xinjiang, in which 10 people died after being overwhelmed by toxic smoke.
Protesters said firefighters were unable to reach residents due to barriers erected as part of an extended coronavirus lockdown, although officials denied the building was cordoned off.
The Urumqi blaze has sparked protests in several cities across China, including the capital Beijing and the country’s largest city, Shanghai, amid frustration over prolonged shutdowns and harsh restrictions associated with the government’s zero COVID strategy. was overflowing.
There was a heavy police presence in towns where protests had taken place, with officers in Shanghai move to arrest several protesters and take them on a bus. Barriers were also erected along the street to prevent people from gathering.
Another rally took place in Beijing on Monday, according to AFP, but one of the protesters told the news agency that she and five of her friends who were attending the rally were called by Beijing police to ask for information about their movements.
In one case, she said, a police officer came to her friend’s home after she refused to answer her phone.
“He said my name and asked me if I had been to the Liangma River last night… he asked me very specifically how many people were there, what time I went there, how I heard about it,” she said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
A protest in Liangma the day before drew around 400 people and rows of police vehicles were in place at the site on Monday.
“People are not just asking for restrictions to be lifted, they are asking for freedom, rule of law, democracy,” Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. “People have pent up anger towards COVID politics, but at the same time they know that the reason we still have abusive and unscientific COVID policies is because of the political system, because one man in Beijing – Xi Jinping – wants it. They connect the dots.
The spread of the highly infectious coronavirus subvariant Omicron BF.7 is the toughest test of China’s approach to fighting the virus since the first cases were detected in the central city of Wuhan a while ago. three years.
Zhang Jun, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Al Jazeera that China cannot give up on zero-COVID.
“While some countries move in a different direction, it is at the cost of the sacrifice of the people,” he said from New York. “They have so many deaths but that’s not the situation we want to see. Of course you could say you prefer more freedom, more freedom, but then you have to be prepared to die.
‘Optimize’ the response
China’s National Health Commission reported 38,645 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, down slightly from record highs in recent days.
Seven people – all over the age of 80 – have died in China since the start of the last outbreak. Beijing pointed to the relatively low vaccination rate among the elderly, who are more susceptible to the disease, as one of the reasons it must persist with zero-COVID.
The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, said several cities are now “optimizing” their response “to take more targeted, science-based measures to curb flare-ups,” reflecting advice on COVID-19 responses. 19 announced earlier this month.
“The authorities stressed that the optimization and adjustment of measures does not mean a relaxation of prevention and control, or a lifting of restrictions related to COVID-19 or a “flattening” in the fight against the virus. “, said the newspaper.
Deliveries and transport services started operating again in Urumqi on Tuesday, and flights to other Chinese cities also resumed, according to state media.
In the southern city of Guangzhou, home to some 19 million people, residents have been told they do not need to take daily COVID-19 tests if they are already staying at home, such as the elderly or students taking online classes, the Global Times reported on Tuesday.
In southwest Chongqing, people who live in areas with no positive cases in the past five days will not be required to participate in mass testing, he added.
In the capital, authorities stressed on Sunday that firefighter access and community entrances could not be blocked during coronavirus lockdowns.