China’s zero-Covid anger is erupting

Protests seem to be breaking out in several major Chinese cities in what has been a week of horrors for China’s zero-Covid policy. Rare displays of public anger have risen to levels not seen since the Shanghai lockdown, and perhaps even since the death of the whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang three years ago. Chinese social media lit up the night he died, and a similar level of frustration and pain is being shared online right now. The latest tragedy is the death of ten people after a fire broke out in their locked down high rise in Urumqi, the capital of the remote region of Xinjiang – leading to angry scenes and video last night. There are reports of police using pepper spray, with posts about protests on social media being immediately deleted.

One video shows crowds in Urumqi amassing outside a government building demanding an end to lockdown.