Hundreds protest China’s zero-Covid policy in London as demonstrations held around world

Hundreds of activists called for President Xi to resign outside London’s Chinese Embassy as public outcry against the Chinese Communist Party‘s (CCP’s) strict zero Covid policy spreads across the world.

The crowds, mostly formed of young people, many with megaphones, chanted “CCP! Step down!” and held up banners calling for President Xi to step down on Sunday evening.

Mask-wearing protesters held up signs demanding the CCP release Shanghai’s detained protesters as others called for ‘Life Not Lockdown’.

The protests came as Britain warned Beijing on Monday that there was “absolutely no excuse” for a BBC journalist covering mass protests in China to allegedly be beaten by the police.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the arrest of Ed Lawrence was “deeply disturbing” after the BBC said the journalist was “arrested, handcuffed, beaten and kicked” by the security forces in Shanghai, during a protest against the country’s strict Covid-19 restrictions.

Chinese authorities announced on Monday that they would ease anti-virus rules in scattered areas but affirmed it’s severe “zero- Covid” strategy.

The government made no comment on the protests or criticism of Xi, the most widespread display of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades. There was no official word on how many people were detained after police used pepper spray against protesters in Shanghai and struggled to suppress demonstrations in other cities including Beijing, the capital.

The city government of Beijing announced it would no longer set up gates to block access to apartment compounds where infections are found.

It made no mention of a deadly fire last week that killed 10 and set off the protests following angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls.

Defiance towards Xi has rapidly spread across the world after a dissident hung a banner on a Beijing bridge last month ahead of a Communist Party Congress, criticising Xi for clinging to power and the zero-COVID policy.

About 90 people gathered at Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations, on Sunday, among them a university student from Beijing who said any protests in China against COVID rules would inevitably focus blame on the Communist Party.

“At the core of it is China’s system,” said the student, who asked to be identified as just Emmanuel.

But some protesters were uncomfortable with more belligerent slogans.

An organiser of a protest planned for later on Monday at Columbia University in New York, who asked to be identified as Shawn, said she would steer clear of sensitive issues such as calls for Taiwan independence and China’s mass internment of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

“We have spoken to some activists from Taiwan and Xinjiang ... We’ve agreed to refrain from (that),” said Shawn from the Chinese city of Fuzhou.

“We know that may alienate a lot of people.”

On Monday, the number of new daily cases rose to 40,347, including 36,525 with no symptoms.