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A protest attacking President Xi Jinping and China’s covid restrictions took position in Beijing, days before a historic Communist Party congress.
The footage showed two protest banners on a bridge northwest of the city. The demonstration appears to have been temporarily halted by the authorities.
Frustration is growing in the capital ahead of the congress.
There has been a wave of anger against the strict protective measures and Covid restrictions put in place.
Authorities have restricted access to the city, many travelers, returning citizens and deliveries. Others saw their movements limited or forced to quarantine.
Images and photographs of the protest circulated showed two giant banners unfurled on a bridge in Beijing’s Haidian district.
One said: “Without Covid testing, we need to eat. Without restrictions, we need freedom. Without lies, we need dignity. Without a cultural revolution, we need reforms. Without leaders, we need votes. Being slaves, we can be citizens. “. “
The other called on citizens to “go on strike and work, to remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping. “
Video of the scene showed thick plumes of unexplained smoke on the bridge and a man can be heard chanting slogans on a loudspeaker.
A stop by the BBC team at the scene found no sign of this, but there was a visual police presence in the area.
The 20th Party Congress, which will last a week and begin on Sunday, will see some 2,300 senior officials and delegates land in the capital.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will have a third term, breaking a decades-old culture and strengthening the grip he already has over power.
Xi’s path to a historic third term, explained
The capital sees strict security measures in the run-up to vital events. Street security has been reinforced with paramilitary police patrols in subway stations and neighborhoods near the Great Hall of the People where the congress will be held.
Authorities are cracking down on the use of virtual personal networks that bypass Chinese firewalls to limit the Internet outside the control of the Communist Party.
But to eliminate small covid outbreaks in Beijing ahead of the congress, the city government is enforcing much stricter measures than most other parts of China.
Tens of millions of citizens are assessed every 3 days, with access controls in all buildings and mask mandates controlled.
Authorities have also severely limited the number of others entering the city and discouraged citizens from leaving.
Many others who traveled to other cities on the recent National Day holiday found that their online fitness codes, a must-have for traveling around the country, suddenly indicated that they were at risk of catching covid, preventing them from taking trains or flights. to Beijing
Others who decided to return to Beijing saw an update in their fitness codes days after returning, according to online accounts, forcing them to quarantine at home.
“I don’t understand why Beijing did that. . . I can’t go to work. I’m about to lose my job. I’m so frustrated. When is it going to end?” one commenter said on Weibo, while some Other added, “We went through all this just because you have to do a meeting. “
“Why torment other ordinary people? The government has implemented its policy unreasonably. How can they accept other people as true to them?” asked another.
This comes amid growing fatigue among Chinese with the “zero Covid” strategy that has noted lockdowns and serious quarantine measures, long after other countries eased restrictions.
How zero covid spoils Xi’s party
Several recent incidents, plus a bus crash that killed another 27 people who were being transported to quarantine camps, have drawn public anger.
The frustration contrasts with the festive atmosphere of the XX Party Congress displayed in the media and state institutions.
The red banners marking the congress have made the impression in the capital and popular mobile apps have replaced the demo colors with red. The same issue is being carried out throughout the country.
State media deployed documents in support of official policies, adding “zero Covid,” urging other Chinese to “build accept as truth and be patient with existing epidemic prevention and control policies. “