Protests erupt across China in unprecedented challenge to Xi Jinping's zero-Covid policy - CNN

Beijing CNN  — 

Protests are erupting crossed China, including astatine universities and successful Shanghai wherever hundreds chanted “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!”, successful an unprecedented amusement of defiance against the country’s stringent and progressively costly zero-Covid policy.

A deadly occurrence astatine an flat artifact successful the country’s acold occidental portion of Xinjiang that killed 10 radical and injured 9 connected Thursday appears to person fueled the anger, arsenic video emerged that seemed to suggest lockdown measures delayed firefighters from reaching the victims.

Protests broke retired successful cities and astatine universities crossed China connected Saturday and aboriginal Sunday morning, according to societal media videos and witnesser accounts.

In aggregate videos seen by CNN, radical could beryllium heard shouting demands for China’s person Xi Jinping and the Communist Party to “step down.”

Some videos amusement radical singing China’s nationalist anthem and The Internationale, a modular of the socialist movement, portion holding banners protesting Beijing’s exceptionally stringent pandemic measures.

Videos wide circulated connected Chinese societal media amusement hundreds of radical successful downtown Shanghai connected Saturday lighting candles to mourn the dormant from the Xinjiang fire.

The assemblage aboriginal held up blank sheets of achromatic insubstantial – successful what is traditionally a symbolic protestation against censorship – and chanted, “Need quality rights, request freedom.”

Protests person besides breached retired successful the superior metropolis Beijing. One pupil astatine the prestigious Peking University told CNN that erstwhile helium arrived astatine the protestation country astatine astir 1 a.m. Sunday section time, determination were astir 100 students, and information guards were utilizing jackets to screen a protestation slogan painted connected the wall.

The pupil said information guards aboriginal covered the slogan with achromatic paint.

Students aboriginal gathered to sing the The Internationale earlier being dispersed by teachers and information guards.

In the eastbound metropolis of Nanjing, dozens of students from Communication University of China gathered to mourn those who died successful the Xinjiang fire.