Anti-lockdown protests have spread to several US universities, part of a growing global movement in support of protesters in China demonstrating against their country’s “zero-COVID” policy.
Students from Columbia, Duke, North Carolina and the University of California Berkeley have gathered for rallies in support of Chinese protesters in recent days, according to a France 24 report, expressing solidarity with a population that has seen its frustrations boil over into average of more than two years. strict prevention measures against COVID-19.
Chants of “Free China!” and “Xi Jinping, stand down!” were heard at the California Berkeley protests, with one protester holding a sign with a drawing of Chinese President Xi Jinping reading “Death to the dictator.”
The scenes on the campus of the American university come as Chinese authorities launched a massive police response to protests that began last week and continued to escalate over the weekend in China, largely restoring, at least temporarily, order. in the major cities of Beijing and Shanghai on Tuesday.
CHINESE POLICE TURN VIOLENT AS PROTESTS OVER COVID-19 LOCKDOWN SWEPT ACROSS THE COUNTRY
People gather at Columbia University during a protest in support of demonstrations in China calling for an end to COVID-19 lockdowns.
(R/AFP via Getty Images)
The protests sparked after a fire at an apartment complex in the Far West region of the country killed 10 people, an event blamed on a delayed response by the local fire department amid ongoing security policies. closing.
Protesters have taken to the streets across the country to demand that pandemic restrictions be relaxed, while others have even called for the resignation of the country’s top leaders.
The protests cap a tumultuous couple of months for the Chinese communist regime, which has drawn increased scrutiny over its mass internment of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang and continued threats to neighboring Taiwan.
An organizer of the China protest in Columbia, who gave his name only as Shawn, said he preferred to keep the school rally focused on COVID policy and not other controversies.
People gather at Columbia University during a protest in support of demonstrations in China calling for an end to COVID-19 lockdowns.
(Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
CHINESE AUTHORITIES LOOSE RESTRICTIONS DUE TO COVID-19 IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS AFTER PROTESTS
“We know that this can alienate a lot of people,” the protester told Reuters.
However, the spread of campus protests is part of a larger movement around the world, with some protesters in Washington, DC, marching on the State Department and taking direct aim at the Chinese government’s treatment of the population. country uyghur.
“We want them to issue a formal statement condemning the loss of life, Uyghur life, and to ask for full transparency about the actual number of deaths that occurred,” said Salih Hudayar, one of the 25 members of the city’s Uyghur community who participated. at the rally, he said, according to France 24.
“We hope that the international community will support these protesters in demanding the accountability of the Chinese government,” he added.
Chinese police officers block access to a site where protesters had gathered in Shanghai on Sunday, November 27, 2022.
(AP Photo)
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Elsewhere in Washington, about 100 people gathered to demand greater freedoms for the Chinese people.
“(Officials) are borrowing the pretext of COVID, but using excessively strict lockdowns to control the population of China. They ignored human lives,” said a Chinese student identified only as Chen. “I came here to cry.”
Abroad, a rally in Paris drew more than 200 people on Sunday, with local Chinese residents saying they were supporting their country’s protests from afar.
“It’s what I should do. When I saw so many Chinese citizens and students take to the streets, I feel that they have taken on much more than we have,” Chiang Seeta, a Chinese graduate student who helped organize the protest, told Reuters. . “Now we are showing them support from abroad.”
Demonstrators hold blank papers and chant slogans as they march in protest in Beijing, Sunday, November 27, 2022.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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A similar scene played out at one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations on Sunday, with about 90 people gathering to protest against the Chinese Communist Party.
“At the center of this is the Chinese system,” a student, identified only as Emmanuel, told Reuters.
