{"id":517011,"date":"2022-11-28T01:45:57","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T22:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/crowd-angered-by-lockdowns-calls-for-chinas-xi-to-step-down\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T01:45:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T22:45:57","slug":"crowd-angered-by-lockdowns-calls-for-chinas-xi-to-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crowd-angered-by-lockdowns-calls-for-chinas-xi-to-step-down\/","title":{"rendered":"#Crowd angered by lockdowns calls for China&#8217;s Xi to step down"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 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-6a2f0843265a6\" 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-6a2f0843265a6\" 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\/crowd-angered-by-lockdowns-calls-for-chinas-xi-to-step-down\/#Crowd_angered_by_lockdowns_calls_for_Chinas_Xi_to_step_down\" >Crowd angered by lockdowns calls for China&#8217;s Xi to step down<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Crowd_angered_by_lockdowns_calls_for_Chinas_Xi_to_step_down\"><\/span>Crowd angered by lockdowns calls for China&#8217;s Xi to step down<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>SHANGHAI (AP) \u2014 Protesters angered by strict anti-virus measures called for China\u2019s powerful leader to resign, an unprecedented rebuke as authorities in at least eight cities <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/taiwan-health-china-fires-covid-4ffc00e5f6761be48f5887d57d66c708\" data-ylk=\"slk:struggled to suppress demonstrations\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">struggled to suppress demonstrations<\/a> Sunday that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party.<\/p>\n<p>Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai who called for Xi Jinping to step down and an end to one-party rule, but hours later people rallied again in the same spot. Police again broke up the demonstration, and a reporter saw protesters under arrest being driven away in a bus.<\/p>\n<p>The protests \u2014 which began Friday and have spread to cities including the capital, Beijing, and dozens of university campuses \u2014 are the most widespread show of opposition to the ruling party in decades.<\/p>\n<p>In a video of the protest in Shanghai verified by The Associated Press, chants against Xi, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/china-beijing-xi-jinping-congress-government-and-politics-274ca67943b353ef9183724592a06cd9\" data-ylk=\"slk:the most powerful leader\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">the most powerful leader<\/a> since at least the 1980s, and the Chinese Communist Party sounded loud and clear: \u201cXi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three years after the virus emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop transmission of COVID-19. Its \u201czero COVID\u201d strategy has suspended access to neighborhoods for weeks at a time. Some cities carry out daily virus tests on millions of residents.<\/p>\n<p>That has kept China&#8217;s infection numbers lower than those the United States and other major countries, but public acceptance has worn thin. People who are quarantined at home in some areas say they lack food and medicine. The ruling party faced public anger following the deaths of two children whose parents said anti-virus controls hampered efforts to get medical help.<\/p>\n<p>The current protests erupted after a fire broke out Thursday and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/china-fires-6a1b6902e6ccf87e064f1232045a2848\" data-ylk=\"slk:killed at least 10 people in an apartment building\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">killed at least 10 people in an apartment building<\/a> in the city of Urumqi in the northwest, where some have been locked in their homes for four months. That prompted an outpouring of angry questions online about whether firefighters or people trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>About 300 demonstrators gathered late Saturday in Shanghai, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covid-china-locking-down-shanghai-b406df3a0113b9be99273324fec2c12e\" data-ylk=\"slk:most of whose 25 million people were confined to their homes\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">most of whose 25 million people were confined to their homes<\/a> for almost two months starting in late March.<\/p>\n<p>On a street named for Urumqi, one group of protesters brought candles, flowers and signs honoring those who died in the blaze. Another group, according to a protester who insisted on anonymity, was more active, shouting slogans and singing the national anthem.<\/p>\n<p>That protester and another, who gave only his family name, Zhao, confirmed the chants against Xi, who has awarded himself a third five-year term as leader of the ruling party and who some expect to try to stay in power for life. Like others who spoke to the AP, the protesters didn&#8217;t want to be identified due to fear of arrest or retaliation.<\/p>\n<p>The atmosphere of the protest encouraged people to speak about topics considered taboo, including the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, the protester who insisted on anonymity said.<\/p>\n<p>Some called for an official apology for the deaths in the fire in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region. One member of Xinjiang&#8217;s Uyghur ethnic group, which has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/china-japan-crime-geneva-72426c36d1a4c0ae83d9520d2f19d840\" data-ylk=\"slk:been the target of a security crackdown\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">been the target of a security crackdown<\/a> that includes mass detentions, shared his experiences of discrimination and police violence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone thinks that Chinese people are afraid to come out and protest, that they don\u2019t have any courage,\u201d said the protester, adding it was his first time demonstrating. \u201cActually in my heart, I also thought this way. But then when I went there, I found that the environment was such that everyone was very brave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The scene turned violent early Sunday. Hundreds of police broke up the more active group before they came for the second as they tried to move people off the main street. The protester said that he saw people being taken away, forced by police into vans, but could not identify them.<\/p>\n<p>Zhao said one of his friends was beaten by police and two were pepper-sprayed. He lost his shoes and left barefoot.<\/p>\n<p>He said protesters yelled slogans, including one that has become a rallying cry: \u201c(We) do not want PCR (tests), but want freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday afternoon, crowds returned to the same spot and again railed against PCR tests. People stood and filmed as police shoved people.<\/p>\n<p>Officers in surgical masks and yellow safety vests told the crowd of about 300 spectators to leave but <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 be trying to avoid a confrontation. There was no sign of shields or other riot gear.<\/p>\n<p>In Beijing, a group of about 200 people gathered in a park on the capital\u2019s east side and held up blank sheets of paper, a symbol of defiance against the ruling party\u2019s pervasive censorship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lockdown policy is so strict,\u201d said a protestor, who would give only his surname, Li. \u201cYou cannot compare it to any other country. We have to find a way out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Postings on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> said there were also demonstrations at 50 universities.<\/p>\n<p>About 2,000 students at Xi\u2019s alma mater, Tsinghua University in Beijing, gathered to demand an easing of anti-virus controls, according to social media posts. Students shouted \u201cfreedom of speech!\u201d and sang the Internationale, the socialist anthem.<\/p>\n<p>The protesters left after the university\u2019s deputy Communist Party secretary promised to hold a school-wide discussion.<\/p>\n<p>Videos on social media that said they were filmed in Nanjing in the east, Guangzhou in the south and at least six other cities showed protesters tussling with police in white protective suits or dismantling barricades used to seal off neighborhoods. The Associated Press could not verify that all those protests took place or where.<\/p>\n<p>The human rights group Amnesty International appealed to Beijing to allow peaceful protest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tragedy of the Urumqi fire has inspired remarkable bravery across China,\u201d the group\u2019s regional director, Hanna Young, said in a statement. \u201cThese unprecedented protests show that people are at the end of their tolerance for excessive COVID-19 restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Urumqi and a smaller city in Xinjiang, Korla, eased some anti-virus controls in what appeared to be an attempt to mollify the public following Friday&#8217;s protests.<\/p>\n<p>Markets and other businesses will reopen in areas deemed at low risk of virus transmission and bus, train and airline service will resume, state media reported. They gave no indication whether residents in higher-risk areas would be allowed out of their homes.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>This version has been updated to correct that the fire in Urumqi was on Thursday, not Friday.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.<\/p>\n<\/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>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> 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:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/protests-strict-lockdown-hit-shanghai-224557950.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crowd angered by lockdowns calls for China&#8217;s Xi to step down SHANGHAI (AP) \u2014 Protesters angered by strict anti-virus measures called for China\u2019s powerful leader to resign, an unprecedented rebuke as authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress demonstrations Sunday that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party. 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