Xi Jinping Step Down: Protestors call for Chinese President, Communist Party to resign amid strict Covid restrictions

Protests erupted across China as the government implemented a strict Covid lockdown following a rise in cases in the country. In a rare display of populist rage against the government, hundreds of people demonstrated against China’s zero-Covid policy on Sunday in the nation’s largest cities. Some of whom chanted “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” in Mandarin. The demonstrations follow against a backdrop of mounting public frustration with China’s zero-tolerance policy toward the virus.

Violence-filled rallies have recently broken out from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou in response to Covid restrictions and snap lockdowns, which have angered people across the nation.

Chinese citizens demanded the resignation of the Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, in protest over the deaths of at least 10 people in an apartment fire in Xinjiang, which likely occurred when the region was under a strict Covid lockdown. Such demands are uncommon in China, where voicing outright criticism of the leadership or the president may result in serious repercussions.

As the public grows weary of unexpected lockdowns, protracted quarantines, and extensive testing operations, they are becoming increasingly unhappy with China’s tough anti-virus stance.

At least 400 people congregated for several hours on the banks of a river in Beijing, China’s capital, on Sunday night. Some shouted: “We are all Xinjiang people! Go Chinese people!”.

People stayed in the area until the wee hours of the morning, chanting and brandishing blank pieces of paper as a symbol of censorship as cars honked in solidarity.

Students Protest

At Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University, between 200 and 300 students demonstrated against lockdowns.

Students were heard yelling, “Democracy and the rule of law, freedom of expression,” in a video that appeared to have been filmed in the same place but was shortly removed.

Videos of similar protests from Peking University and campuses in Xi’an, Guangzhou, and Wuhan also went viral on social media.

Authorities and demonstrators engaged in physical altercations in downtown Shanghai, China’s largest city, as police attempted to clear the area after an earlier demonstration on Wulumuqi Street, which has the Mandarin name for Urumqi.

Several livestreams that were quickly censored showed crowds going through the streets celebrating and recording on their phones in Wuhan, the central megacity where the coronavirus first appeared.

Videos of protests purportedly captured in Guangzhou and Chengdu were also circulating on social media.