Hundreds of people spilled out onto the streets here in Beijing tonight to demand an end to zero covid. The gathering began as a candlelight vigil for victims in Urumqi, Xinjiang who were killed in a lockdown fire because firefighters failed to reach the blaze. pic.twitter.com/dEXxI0E0Zi
Seemingly spontaneous protest converging again at Urumqi Road in Shanghai, despite heavy police presence. People are shouting “let them go 放人!” 😮 Apparently in reference to those arrested at previous protests. pic.twitter.com/JjOvtcqFnr
“I don’t know what to do. If we can still survive living like this then I suppose that’s what we’ll do,” said a Wuhan resident surnamed Chang, 38.
“When we see these news stories about COVID, we now feel a bit numb. We feel numb to it all. We feel more and more numb.”
Wuhan also suspended the sale of pork in parts of the city, according to images and posts on social media, after one COVID case was found that authorities said was linked to the local pork supply chain.
No coverage of Congress drama, social media censored
Saturday’s evening news in China featured images of Hu attending the session but none of him being removed.
On China’s Twitter-like Weibo, a few social media users discussed the incident but by the evening, the comments section of almost all Weibo posts containing Hu’s name were no longer visible, according to a Reuters review.
Last Thursday, a man strung banners across a bridge in China’s capital that accused Mr Xi of being a dictator.
He was quickly detained but photos of his action spread around the world.
Since then similar signs and messages have appeared on several university campuses in the US, UK, Europe, Australia and elsewhere.
One handwritten sign at Colby College in the US state of Maine praised the Beijing man’s action and said: “We, people of China, want to spread this message that speaks our mind in places without censorship.”
Many replicate the messages displayed last week on the Sitong bridge in Beijing’s Haidian district.
Overseas, many anti-Xi posters were put up by Chinese students like Jolie, who have long learned to keep their critical political views to themselves due to a culture of fear. Under Xi, the party has ramped up surveillance and control of the Chinese diaspora, intimidating and harassing those who dare to speak out and threatening their families back home.
Chinese technology stocks tanked Monday after a political reshuffle in the world’s second-largest economy tightened PresidentXi Jinping’sgrip on power with investors fearing this could be a negative for private firms.
Tech giantsAlibabaandTencentclosed down more than 11% in Asia; search companyBaiduwas 12% lower while food delivery firmMeituantanked more than 14%.