Beijing: Thousands took to the streets in the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai in the early hours of Sunday in a rare outburst of protests against the administration's hardline rules as part of Covid-19 restrictions, Mint reported.
Protesters called for President Xi Jinping as well as the Communist Party of China (CCP) to step down, which is seen as a rare display of outcry. There were minor clashes with police, and some were reported to be detained by security forces. After videos of public rallies appeared online, authorities took immediate steps like curbing online talks on protest and related phrases in Weibo, a platform similar to Twitter in China, monitored by the administration.
People rose in China's most populated city, Shanghai, on Saturday night to attend a candlelight vigil which turned into a major protest there. In the capital city, people gathered in the streets at the elite Tsinghua University.
The protesters sang the national anthem and the song of the international communist movement, "the Internationale". They rose slogans of "freedom will prevail", "no nucleic acid tests, we want food, "no to lockdowns, we want freedom" etc.
Some student protesters held up blank pieces of paper as a symbolic protest against censorship.
Chinese citizens are reportedly frustrated over the growing sessions of lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing drives.
After a horrible fire in Xinjiang region had killed ten people and many blame the stringent lengthy lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts. Social media users complained that those trapped inside the building which caught fire couldn't leave it because the structure was partially locked, though authorities have rebutted the claims.
Mint reports that frustration has been brewing in China after Xi Jinping was granted a third term at CCP's steering.
Meanwhile, the country had reported 39,506 Covid-19 positive cases, which is a record high here.