Shanghai/BEIJING ¨C Police on Monday patrolled the scenes of weekend protests in Shanghai and Beijing after crowds there and in other cities across China demonstrated against stringent COVID-19 measures disrupting lives three years into the pandemic.
From the streets of several Chinese cities to dozens of university campuses, protesters made a show of civil disobedience unprecedented since leader Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago. During his tenure, Xi has overseen the quashing of dissent and expansion of a high-tech social surveillance system that has made protest more difficult, and riskier.
"What we object to is these restrictions on people¡¯s rights in the name of virus prevention, and the restrictions on individual freedom and people¡¯s livelihoods," said Jason Sun, a college student in Shanghai.
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