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Protests erupt across China over President Jinping’s ‘Zero-Covid’ policy

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Hundreds of thousands of Chinese took to the streets of major cities on Saturday in protests against President Xi Jinping’s stringent ‘Zero-COVID-19’ restrictions with chants of “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping”.

The protests came after a fire outbreak in a high-rise building in China’s Xinjiang region on Thursday killed at least 10 people as the restrictions allegedly obstructed escape and rescue operations.

The protests which has spilled into Sunday is fast spreading across the country and at universities campuses according to social media videos and witnesses accounts.

Read also:China establishes police stations in Nigeria, Lesotho, 18 others to tackle crimes

An eyewitness said “dozens of students held gatherings or put up posters to grieve the dead from the Xinjiang fire and speak out against zero-Covid.”

“In several cities, residents in locked-down neighborhoods tore down barriers and took to the streets, following mass anti-lockdown protests that swept Urumqi on Friday night.

“Such widespread scenes of anger and defiance are exceptionally rare in China, where the ruling Communist Party ruthlessly cracks down on all expressions of dissent,” an activist said.

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