November 28, 2022, 22:02 PM
November 28, 2022, 22:02 PM
Hundreds of police officers and dozens of vehicles patrolled the streets of Shanghai on Monday night, after a weekend marked by protests against China’s controversial “zero covid” policy.
After a deadly fire in the city of Urumqi, in the northwest of the country, outrage grows in China against the restrictions by covid-19, criticized for having slowed down the work of extinction of the fire.
Large demonstrations took place on Sunday in downtown Shanghai, where there were clashes between protesters and police officers near Wulumuqi Street, the Mandarin name for Urumqi.
Numerous police officers and vehicles were present this Monday in that same area in order to discourage new attempts at protests, according to AFP journalists, who saw how the agents detained four people and released one throughout the day.
In Wulumuqi street, there were 12 police vehicles within 100 meters, according to an AFP journalist.
“The atmosphere is tense tonight. There are many police officers in this area,” said a pedestrian, who called himself Taku (a pseudonym) and who wasHe explained that he had lost his job at an airline because of the pandemic and considered that the demonstrations were justified.
“The rest of the world is back to normal, but China remains paralyzed due to a zero covid policy. This town is on its way to go crazy.” added Taku, who said he was waiting “impatiently for something to happen.”
Another young man told AFP that the police had specifically asked him if he had downloaded foreign apps on his phone, a question asked of many other Chinese citizens, according to reports on social media.
“The atmosphere is strange, but I don’t feel in danger“Said a woman, in her 30s, who works as a shop assistant and regretted a decrease in commercial activity in the area where the demonstrations took place.
Despite everything, it was rather calm on Monday night and the AFP only saw how four agents called two young people to their attention and inspected their mobile phones and cameras before letting them go.
Police officers also deleted photos from mobile phones of several people in the Wulumuqi Road area.
“As a Shanghai citizen, I am free to record,” said a young man briefly detained for recording a demonstration. “Now it is like this in Shanghai. There is no freedom“, lament.
