{"id":516739,"date":"2022-11-27T07:13:41","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T04:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/more-anti-covid-protests-in-china-triggered-by-deadly-fire\/"},"modified":"2022-11-27T07:13:41","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T04:13:41","slug":"more-anti-covid-protests-in-china-triggered-by-deadly-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/more-anti-covid-protests-in-china-triggered-by-deadly-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"#More anti-COVID protests in China triggered by deadly fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3664cfed233\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3664cfed233\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/more-anti-covid-protests-in-china-triggered-by-deadly-fire\/#%E2%80%9CMore_anti-COVID_protests_in_China_triggered_by_deadly_fire%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;More anti-COVID protests in China triggered by deadly fire&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CMore_anti-COVID_protests_in_China_triggered_by_deadly_fire%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;More anti-COVID protests in China triggered by deadly fire&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>TAIPEI, Taiwan \u2014 Protests against China\u2019s restrictive COVID-19 measures <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared to roil in a number of cities Saturday night, in displays of public defiance fanned by anger over a deadly fire in the western Xinjiang region.<\/p>\n<p>Many protests could not be im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely confirmed, but in Shanghai, police used pepper spray to stop around 300 protesters who had gathered at Middle Urumqi Road at midnight, bringing flowers, candles and signs reading \u201cUrumqi, November 24, those who died rest in peace\u201d to memorialize the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/china-fires-6a1b6902e6ccf87e064f1232045a2848\">10 deaths caused by a fire<\/a>\u00a0in an apartment building in Xinjiang\u2019s capital city Urumqi.<\/p>\n<p>A protester who gave only his family name, Zhao, said one of his friends was beaten by police and two friends were pepper sprayed. He said police stomped his feet as he tried to stop them from taking his friend away. He lost his shoes in the process, and left the protest barefoot.<\/p>\n<p>Zhao says protesters yelled slogans including \u201cXi Jinping, step down, Communist Party, step down,\u201d \u201cUnlock Xinjiang, unlock China,\u201d \u201cdo not want PCR (tests), want freedom\u201d and \u201cpress freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Protestors gathered at Middle Urumqi Road at midnight.\" class=\"wp-image-24801788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>In Shanghai, police used pepper spray to stop around 300 protesters.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Around 100 police stood line by line, preventing some protesters from gathering or leaving, and buses carrying more police arrived later, Zhao said.<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/taiwan\"><\/p>\n<p>Another protester, who gave only his family name of Xu, said there was a larger crowd of thousands of demonstrators, but that police stood in the road and let protesters pass on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n<p>Posts about the protest were deleted immediately on China\u2019s social media, as China\u2019s\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/health-china-beijing-covid-wuhan-3c199e3f1a084013da18fc9e6061e775\">Communist Party commonly does to suppress criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier Saturday, authorities in the Xinjiang region opened up some neighborhoods in Urumqi after residents held extraordinary late-night demonstrations against the city\u2019s draconian \u201czero-COVID\u201d lockdown that had lasted more than three months. Many alleged that obstacles caused by anti-virus measures made the fire worse. It took emergency workers three hours to extinguish the blaze, but officials denied the allegations, saying there were no barricades in the building and that residents were permitted to leave.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-3.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Most of the protesters visible in the videos were Han Chinese. \" class=\"wp-image-24801789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The protest stemmed from a fire\u00a0in an apartment building in Xinjiang\u2019s capital city Urumqi killed 10. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Video Obtained via REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During Xinjiang\u2019s lockdown, some residents elsewhere in the city have had their doors chained physically shut, including one who spoke to The Associated Press who declined to be named for fear of retribution. Many in Urumqi believe such brute-force tactics may have prevented residents from escaping in Thursday\u2019s fire and that the official death toll was an undercount.<\/p>\n<p>Anger boiled over after Urumqi city officials held a press conference about the fire in which they appeared to shift responsibility for the deaths onto the apartment tower\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome residents\u2019 ability to rescue themselves was too weak,\u201d said Li Wensheng, head of Urumqi\u2019s fire department.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Police clamped down on dissenting voices, announcing the arrest of a 24-year-old woman for spreading \u201cuntrue information\u201d about the death toll online.<\/p>\n<p>Late Friday, people in Urumqi marched largely peacefully in big puffy winter jackets in the cold winter night.<\/p>\n<p>Videos of protests featured people holding the Chinese flag and shouting \u201cOpen up, open up.\u201d They spread rapidly on Chinese social media despite heavy censorship. In some scenes, people shouted and pushed against rows of men in the white whole-body hazmat suits that local government workers and pandemic-prevention volunteers wear, according to the videos.<\/p>\n<p>By Saturday, most had been deleted by censors. The Associated Press could not independently verify all the videos, but two Urumqi residents who declined to be named out of fear of retribution said large-scale protests occurred Friday night. One of them said he had friends who participated.<\/p>\n<p>The AP pinpointed the locations of two of the videos of the protests in different parts of Urumqi. In one video, police in face masks and hospital gowns faced off against shouting protesters. In another, one protester is speaking to a crowd about their demands. It is unclear how widespread the protests were.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-5.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"The protests are the latest signs of building frustration with China\u2019s intense approach to controlling COVID-19.\" class=\"wp-image-24801793\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Protestors said that they were beaten and pepper sprayed. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Video Obtained via REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The demonstrations, as well as public anger online, are the latest signs of building frustration with China\u2019s intense approach to controlling COVID-19. It\u2019s the only major country in the world that still is fighting the pandemic through mass testing and lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Given China\u2019s vast security apparatus, protests are risky anywhere in the country, but they are extraordinary in Xinjiang, which for years has been the target of a brutal security crackdown. A huge number of Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minorities have been swept into a vast network of camps and prisons,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-china-health-travel-7a6967f335f97ca868cc618ea84b98b9\">instilling fear that grips the region to this day<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the protesters visible in the videos were Han Chinese. A Uyghur woman living in Urumqi said it was because Uyghurs were too scared to take to the streets despite their rage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHan Chinese people know they will not be punished if they speak against the lockdown,\u201d she said, declining to be named for fear of retaliation against her family. \u201cUyghurs are different. If we dare say such things, we will be taken to prison or to the camps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In one video, which the AP could not independently verify, Urumqi\u2019s top official, Yang Fasen, told angry protesters he would open up low-risk areas of the city the following morning.<\/p>\n<p>That promise was realized the next day, as Urumqi authorities announced that residents of low risk areas would be allowed to move freely within their neighborhoods. Still, many other neighborhoods remain under lockdown.<\/p>\n<p>Officials also triumphantly declared Saturday that they had basically achieved \u201csocietal zero-COVID,\u201d meaning that there was no more community spread and that new infections were being detected only in people already under health monitoring, such as those in a centralized quarantine facility.<\/p>\n<p>Social media users greeted the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> with disbelief and sarcasm. \u201cOnly China can achieve this speed,\u201d wrote one user on Weibo.<\/p>\n<p>On Chinese social media, where trending topics are manipulated by censors, the \u201czero-COVID\u201d announcement was the No. 1 trending hashtag on both Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, and Douyin, the Chinese edition of TikTok. The apartment fire and protests became a lightning rod for public anger, as millions shared posts questioning\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/health-china-business-beijing-shanghai-04128c364768bd14021edfd29210d07a\">China\u2019s pandemic controls<\/a>\u00a0or mocking the country\u2019s stiff propaganda and harsh censorship controls.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>The explosion of criticism marks a sharp turn in public opinion. Early on in the pandemic, China\u2019s approach to controlling COVID-19 was hailed by its own citizens as minimizing deaths at a time when other countries were suffering devastating waves of infections. China\u2019s leader Xi Jinping had held up the approach as an example of the superiority of the Chinese system in comparison to the West and especially the US, which had politicized the use of face masks and had difficulties enacting widespread lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>But support for \u201czero-COVID\u201d has cratered in recent months, as tragedies sparked public anger. Last week, the Zhengzhou city government in the central province of Henan apologized for the death of a 4-month old baby. She died after a delay in receiving medical attention while suffering vomiting and diarrhea in quarantine at a hotel in Zhengzhou.<\/p>\n<p>The government has doubled down its policy even as it loosens some measures, such as shortening quarantine times. The central government has repeatedly said it will stick to \u201czero COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many in Xinjiang have been locked down since August. Most have not been allowed to leave their homes, and some have reported dire conditions,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covid-health-shanghai-government-and-politics-e40fb7fdd74f395571b7604fa6ee5d3e\">including spotty food deliveries that have caused residents to go hungry<\/a>. On Friday, the city reported 220 new cases, the vast majority of which were asymptomatic.<\/p>\n<p>The Uyghur woman in Urumqi said she had been trapped in her apartment since Aug. 8, and was not even allowed to open her window. On Friday, residents in her neighborhood defied the order, opening their windows and shouting in protest. She joined in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo more lockdowns! No more lockdowns!\u201d they screamed.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/11\/26\/more-anti-covid-protests-in-china-triggered-by-deadly-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;More anti-COVID protests in China triggered by deadly fire&#8221; TAIPEI, Taiwan \u2014 Protests against China\u2019s restrictive COVID-19 measures appeared to roil in a number of cities Saturday night, in displays of public defiance fanned by anger over a deadly fire in the western Xinjiang region. Many protests could not be immediately confirmed, but in Shanghai,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":516740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/anti-covid-protests-in-china-comp-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[136241,4973,1545,1621],"class_list":["post-516739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-26-22","tag-china","tag-coronavirus","tag-protests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}