China is witnessing a rare public protest because of its stringent zero-COVID policy. The protesters shouted slogans against the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. The protests have spread to the universities in Nanjing and Beijing.

In Beijing, on Saturday night, thousands of protesters gathered at the Wulumuqi Road, which resulted in a clash between the demonstrators and the police.

Protests also broke out in the streets of Wuhan and Chengdu on Sunday. Various videos posted online, show the police arresting several protesters in Shanghai.

The demonstrators were openly heard shouting slogans such as “Communist Party, step down”, and “Xi Jinping, step down”, the BBC reported.

In other cities, protesters were seen holding blank white banners while at other places, protesters were seen lighting candles and laying flowers for the victims of Urumqi, where 10 people were killed when a fire broke out at a building that was under COVID lockdown.

Student protests also broke out in various prestigious Chinese universities, which include the Tsinghua University in Beijing and the Communication University of Nanjing.

Hundreds of students in these universities held blank sheets of paper to show their defiance against Chinese censorship.

This article is based on Hindustan Times’ “Covid: Anti-Xi slogans raised; protests in Beijing, Shanghai” updated on Nov 28, 2022 06:08 AM IST. The information, data and statements as such are taken from the respective website.