They’re Rioting In Parts Of China Over COVID Lockdowns

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Unprecedented protests against Covid restrictions broke out in China overnight on Friday, with hundreds taking to the streets in Xinjiang's capital amid anger over a deadly fire. Footage posted online showed crowds clashing with SWAT-uniformed guards in the city of Urumqi after rumours spread that ongoing draconian anti-Covid measures had led to the deaths of 10 in a blaze in a high-rise building late on Thursday.

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Crowds pumped their fists in the air as they walked down a street and chanted “lift the lockdown,” according to videos circulating on social media and verified by Reuters and other newswires. In one video, a man can be heard shouting at the guards, "Whose children are you, and whose father are you? Don't you have a conscience? How many people died today?"

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Xinjiang has been the site of one of China’s toughest and longest Covid lockdowns, with many of Urumqi's four million residents prevented from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days. The apartment block where the fire broke out had previously been under lockdown, although it was not clear if that was still the case at the time.

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The protests are just the latest example of Chinese communities' anger and fatigue with seemingly never-ending Covid restrictions boiling over. On Saturday, videos circulating on social media also appeared to show small-scale civil disobedience against lockdowns in residential compounds in Beijing and other cities.

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This week there were violent riots at a Foxconn factory in central China that produces most of the world’s iPhones. Workers enraged over Covid curbs and job conditions clashed with hazmat-clad police, smashing Covid booths and overturning cars. The Foxconn protests only subsided after the company offered some employees 1,400 yuan (£1,160) just to leave the factory.

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China on Saturday reported its third consecutive daily record of Covid infections, with just under 32,000 new cases nationwide. Some of its biggest cities, including Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou, are seeing some of their biggest outbreaks.

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