Anti-Lockdown Protests Break Out Across China As Citizens Turn On Communism

Hundreds of students from Beijing’s Tsinghua University rallied at their campus on Sunday chanting “freedom will prevail” and calling for an end to lockdowns. 

That rally follows demonstrations overnight in Shanghai and in the eastern city of Nanjing. Hundreds of people protested in Wuhan, where people gathered at night, cheering and recording the protest on their cell phones. 

Last week, 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building in Xinjiang’s capital city, Urumqi. The deaths have sparked widespread public anger as many internet users have surmised that the residents of the high-rise building could not escape in time because the building was partially locked down.  

The crowds in Shanghai chanted, “Lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!” At one point a large group began shouting, “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping, free Urumqi”.