Hundreds of police officers and dozens of vehicles patrolled the streets of Shanghai on Monday nightafter a weekend marked by the protests against Chinese policy “zero covid”.
Following a deadly fire in the northwestern city of Urumqi, the outrage grows in China against the restrictions covid-19criticized for having slowed down the firefighting efforts.
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 further protest attempts, according to AFP journalists, who saw how the officers arrested four people and released one throughout the day.
On Wulumuqi Road, there were 12 police vehicles within 100 meters. “The atmosphere is tense tonight. There are many police officers in this area,” said a pedestrian, who called himself Taku (a pseudonym) and who 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 continues to be paralyzed due to a zero covid policy. This city is on its way to going crazy,” added Taku, who said he was waiting “impatiently for something to happen.”
Another young man explained that the police had specifically asked him if he had downloaded foreign apps on his phone, a question asked of many other Chinese citizens, they reported on social media.
“The environment is strange, but I don’t feel in danger,” said a woman in her 30s, who works as a shop assistant and lamented a decrease in commercial activity in the area where the demonstrations took place.
In spite of everything, it was rather calm this Monday night and it was only seen how four agents called the attention of two young people 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.