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The stringent lockdowns and ongoing protests in China have emerged as the 'biggest rebellion' in the country's history as people are filled with angst over the afflicting zero-Covid policy for its enforced quarantines, according to the Investigative Journalism Reportika.
The public outrage against CCP rule and torturous zero-covid policy has been observed across several cities of China including Beijing and Shanghai which are the trade hubs of the country. People in Xinjiang, as well as Lhasa, were also seen, according to several videos circulating on social media. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been in charge of a strategy of mass testing, brute-force lockdowns, enforced quarantine, and digital tracking for almost three years, at a terrible cost to human and financial well-being. Hundreds of protesters have even demanded his ouster. Since the announcement of the 20th Party Congress of the CCP in October, China has undergone a myriad of changes. On the eve of the 20th Party Congress, a lone protestor displayed two banners, one urging the people to "Be citizens, not slaves," and the other demanding that Xi Jinping be removed from his office, the Investigative Journalism Reportika stated. The harsh COVID-19 lockdown that Chinese authorities have placed on them for more than three months has angered locals in Tibet's capital city of Lhasa, who took to the streets to protest. Early in November, when lockdowns were once again in effect in Guangzhou, residents of the Haizhu district marched in the streets at night, crashing through metal barriers and calling for the lockdown to be lifted. Additionally, Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory employees and labourers protested on the factory grounds because they have been compelled to remain there ever since a closed-loop system was announced to stop the spread of COVID-19 without affecting productivity under the Zero Covid policy. The large-scale protests in China were apparently sparked by an apartment block fire in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province, which killed at least 10 people on Thursday and has acted as an impetus for public protest. By Sunday evening, on dozens of university campuses, students demonstrated or put up protest posters. Protests also spread to Chengdu, Guangzhou and Wuhan, where residents called for not only an end to Covid restrictions. Students gathered on a square to protest against zero-Covid at Tsinghua University, in the capital city of Beijing. Images and videos making round on social media show students holding up sheets of white paper and shouting: "Democracy and rule of law! Freedom of expression!" Such widespread scenes of anger and defiance are rare in China, where the ruling Communist Party clamps down on all forms of dissent. However, the increase in COVID restrictions long detested across the country has brought matters to a head. (ANI)
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