Demonstrations were sparked by accusations that pandemic restrictions had hampered rescuers trying to reach a deadly fire in Xinjiang.
the capital of Xinjiang, in China’s far northwest on Thursday. Ten people, including three children, died after emergency fire services could not get close enough to an apartment building engulfed in flames, prompting accusations from residents that lockdown-related measures had hampered rescue efforts.
Videos posted on social media show crowds also gathered at universities in Nanjing and Xi’an, holding up their phones as part of a vigil for those killed. In one, a young man who said he was from Xinjiangat Communication University of China in Nanjing, “I am here, I represent myself, I speak for my own hometown. In the fire, the deceased also speak out for all their compatriots who have died.”
Videos posted on social media on Sunday show a crowd of students at Tsinghua University in Beijing holding up blank paper and changing, “Democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression!” Through a loudspeaker, a young woman shouts, “If because we are afraid of being arrested, we don’t speak, I believe our people will be disappointed in us. As a Tsinghua student, I will regret this my whole life.”.
In the name of China’s “zero covid” policy, citizens have lived through almost three years of unrelenting controls that have left many sealed in their homes, sent to quarantine centers or barred from traveling. Residents must submit to repeated coronavirus tests and surveillance of their movement and health status.
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