Chinese authorities yesterday eased some COVID-19 rules, but affirmed their severe “zero COVID” strategy after protesters demanded Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) resign in the biggest show of opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in decades.
The government made no comment on the protests or the criticism of Xi, but the decision to ease at least some of the restrictions appeared to be aimed at quelling anger. It was not clear how many people were detained since protests began on Friday and spread to cities, including Shanghai and Beijing.
The city government of Beijing yesterday announced that it would no longer set up gates to block access to apartment compounds where infections are found. It made no mention of a deadly fire last week that set off the protests following questions about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls.
Photo: Reuters
In addition, Guangzhou, the biggest hotspot in China’s latest wave of infections, announced some residents would no longer be required to undergo mass testing. It cited a need to conserve resources.
Urumqi, where the deadly fire occurred, and another city in the Xinjiang region in the northwest announced markets and other businesses in areas deemed at low risk of infection would reopen this week and public bus service would resume.
“Zero COVID,” which aims to isolate every infected person, has helped to keep China’s case numbers lower than those of the US and other major countries.
However, it has confined millions of people to their homes for up to four months, and many have complained about a lack of reliable food and medical supplies.
Yesterday, the number of new daily cases rose to 40,347, including 36,525 with no symptoms.
The People’s Daily called for its anti-virus strategy to be carried out effectively, indicating that Xi’s government has no plans to change course.
“Facts have fully proved that each version of the prevention and control plan has withstood the test of practice,” a People’s Daily commentator wrote.
Protests spread to at least eight major cities. In a video that was verified by The Associated Press (AP), a crowd in Shanghai on Saturday chanted: “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!”
Hours after police broke up the demonstration, people returned to the same spot on Sunday for another protest. Dozens of people were detained in police sweeps and driven away in police vans and buses, though the exact number was not clear.
In one sweep witnessed by an AP journalist, officers charged and tackled bystanders at an intersection near where earlier protests had taken place, even though the bystanders were not chanting or expressing dissent in any visible way.
Eyewitnesses told the AP about protests that took place in Guangzhou and in Chengdu in the southwest. Videos that said they were filmed in Nanjing in the east, Chongqing in the southwest and other cities showed protesters tussling with police in white protective suits or dismantling barricades used to seal off neighborhoods. AP could not verify that all those protests took place or where.
The BBC said one of its reporters was beaten, kicked, handcuffed and detained for several hours by Shanghai police, but later released. It criticized what it said was Chinese authorities’ explanation that its reporter was detained to prevent him from contracting COVID-19 from the crowd.
“We do not consider this a credible explanation,” it said in a statement.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said the BBC reporter failed to identify himself and “didn’t voluntarily present” his press credential.
In London, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the arrest “shocking and unacceptable.”
Britain will raise concerns with China about the response to protests, while the government will continue to seek constructive relations with the country on other issues, the spokesman said.
Swiss broadcaster RTS said its correspondent and a cameraman were detained while doing a live broadcast, but released a few minutes later. A journalist for the AP was detained, but later released.
Additional reporting by Reuters
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
OVERWHELMING SUPPORT: The bill with US$2 billion in Foreign Military Financing Program funds and US$1.9 billion to replenish defense articles passed the House 385-34 Taiwan is to continue working with the US to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday after the US House of Representatives approved a US$95 billion foreign aid package with funding for Taiwan. The bills were passed with bipartisan support in a rare Saturday session after votes had been delayed for months by House Republicans. After clearing the House, the bills — containing US$8 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, along with US$60.8 billion for Kyiv, and US$26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones — would be combined into a
The navy next month is expected to commission into service two more domestically built Tuo Chiang-class stealth missile corvettes, a source said yesterday. The Hsu Chiang (旭江, PGG-621) and the Wu Chiang (武江, PGG-623) would be officially commissioned in a ceremony early next month, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The corvettes, launched in February and June last year respectively, were delivered to the navy in February. They are the third and fourth Tuo Chiang-class stealth missile corvettes to be produced. The Tuo Chiang-class corvette is a domestically designed and manufactured class of fast and stealthy multipurpose corvette built for the