Strict COVID Lockdown Protests Hit China Cities

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Protests against China’s strict “zero-COVID” policies resurfaced in Shanghai and Beijing on Sunday afternoon, continuing a round of demonstrations that have spread across the country since a deadly apartment fire in the northwestern city of Urumqi. Crowds stood and filmed as police started shoving at people who had gathered in the street in Shanghai and shouted, “We don’t want PCR tests, we want freedom!” Since Friday people have held protests across China, where street demonstrations are extremely rare. But anger and frustration have flared over the deaths from a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi that the public believes was caused by excessive lockdown measures that delayed rescue. A list on social media showed that there were demonstrations in 50 universities.