Barricades were erected in Shanghai after the demonstrations

Large barricades were erected in central Shanghai after demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions at the weekend.

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The weekend witnessed strong protests against the strict Corona measures in several Chinese cities. Among other things, the protesters criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Communist Party. It is very rare for something like this to happen in China.

Among other things, protests broke out in Shanghai, the western province of Xinjiang and at a university in Beijing. Monday morning, Shanghainese woke up to large blue roadblocks as protests erupted in the city.

According to the BBC, which reports from the scene of the accident, there is a A large police presence on the road. Anyone who takes pictures on the road will be arrested and detained if they do not delete the pictures.

On Saturday evening, several arrests were made during the demonstrations on the same road.

BBC journalist arrested

On Sunday, a BBC journalist was arrested while covering the protests in Shanghai.

The BBC is very concerned about the treatment of one of our journalists, Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai, a BBC spokesperson said, according to reports. Watchman.

He was arrested for several hours before being released. While in custody, he was beaten and kicked by the police. This happened when he was a certified journalist.

The BBC notes that the Chinese authorities have provided no compelling reason for Lawrence’s arrest.

– We did not receive any official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities other than the claim of the authorities, who later released him, that he was arrested for his own benefit in case he contracted Corona from the crowd.

Chinese authorities claimed on Monday that Lawrence did not identify himself as a journalist. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also said the BBC’s version of what happened did not match reality, Reuters reports.

New injury record

Monday also marks the fifth consecutive day of a new record in the number of people infected with the Coronavirus in China.

40,437 new cases of infection have been reported, he writes Reuters. In the major cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing, there are several thousand new cases of infection.

China continues to try to completely eradicate corona infection from society. The “zero infection” strategy involves widespread lockdowns, and millions of people are locked in their homes.

The wave of protests erupted after a fire broke out in an apartment building in the capital, Urumqi, in the Xinjiang region, on Thursday, he wrote. CNN. Ten people were killed in the fire. Many criticized the strict Corona rules because they prevented fire brigades from carrying out extinguishing work.

Then the protests spread to several cities in China. In Shanghai, many people gathered on Saturday to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire. They held blank white sheets of paper – a symbolic protest against censorship. They also sang the song of the workers’ movement “The International”. This was also sung during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, which ended with the military killing civilian protesters.