Discontent with China’s hardline pandemic response spilled onto the streets last weekend and expanded into calls for more political freedom, in widespread demonstrations not seen in decades. China’s vast security apparatus has moved swiftly to smother the rallies, deploying a heavy police presence while boosting online censorship and surveillance of the population.
In his first known comments on the protests, Xi told European Union chief Charles Michel when the pair met in Beijing on Thursday that the demonstrators were “mainly students or teenagers in university” who were fed up with Covid restrictions, senior officials speaking on condition of anonymity said. Xi complained that it was after three years of Covid that he had an issue, “because people were frustrated”, they said.
Chinese central government officials have already signalled that a broader relaxation of the zero-Covid policy could be in the works.
When called on Friday, some officials in the Chaoyang district of Beijing said people who tested positive there would no longer have to go to central quarantine. Authorities in the southern factory hub of Dongguan on Thursday also said those who meet “specific conditions” should be allowed to quarantine at home. Shenzhen, a southern tech hub, on Wednesday rolled out a similar policy.
The southwestern metropolis of Chengdu from Friday no longer required a recent negative test result to enter public places or ride the metro. Beijing also announced on Friday that using public transport in the city would no longer require a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours. afp
!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
const { TimesApps } = window;
TimesApps.loadFBEvents = function() {
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(…arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments);
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, v, n, t, s);
fbq(‘init’, ‘593671331875494’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
};
})(
window,
document,
‘script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’,
);if(typeof window !== ‘undefined’) {
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
const { TimesApps } = window;
TimesApps.loadScriptsOnceAdsReady = () => {
var scripts = [
‘https://static.clmbtech.com/ad/commons/js/2658/toi/colombia_v2.js’ ,
‘https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-877820074’,
‘https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js’,
‘https://tvid.in/sdk/loader.js’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/video_comscore_api/version-3.cms’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/grxpushnotification_js/minify-1,version-1.cms’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#version=v10.0&xfbml=true’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/locateservice_js/minify-1,version-14.cms’
];
scripts.forEach(function(url) {
let script = document.createElement(‘script’);
script.type=”text/javascript”;
if(!false && !false && !false && url.indexOf(‘colombia_v2’)!== -1){
script.src = url;
} else if (!false && !false && !false && url.indexOf(‘sdkloader’)!== -1) {
script.src = url;
} else if (!false && !false && (url.indexOf(‘tvid.in/sdk’) !== -1 || url.indexOf(‘connect.facebook.net’) !== -1 || url.indexOf(‘locateservice_js’) !== -1 )) {
script.src = url;
} else if (url.indexOf(‘colombia_v2’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘sdkloader’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘tvid.in/sdk’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘connect.facebook.net’) == -1){
script.src = url;
}
script.async = true;
document.body.appendChild(script);
});
}
}
More News
Student protests anti-Semitic: Netanyahu – Times of India
Iconic blades of Moulin Rouge windmill collapse – Times of India
NY court junks HW’s conviction in case that sparked #MeToo – Times of India