Protests against Covid controls erupt in Shanghai and other Chinese cities

“And,” he added, “for the deceased.”

Smaller protests and vigils also took place Beijing University and Technical University of WuhanVideos, verifiable from the buildings in the background, were shown.

A protest also broke out in another city in Xinjiang: Korla in the north of the region. Hundreds of residents gathered at the prefectural government office, according to released video footage online on Saturday evening.

“Unblock,” they shouted.

The Xinjiang region has been under intense security controls for years as part of the government’s long crackdown on the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. But many protesters in Korla, judging by their accents and appearance, appeared to be members of the Chinese ethnic majority Han, as did many protesters in Urumqi, the region’s capital.

During the night, an officer came out and promised the crowd in Korla that lockdowns would be eased, prompting applause and shouts of welcome.

But ahead of the latest demonstrations, the Xinjiang government had warned residents that strict Covid measures were still necessary, and security agencies there and elsewhere across China are now likely to step up surveillance and security to prevent further unrest.

“The pandemic risks have not been completely eradicated and the transmission chains have not been completely broken, so the slightest relaxation can lead to recovery,” the Xinjiang leadership said announced on Saturday. Officials, it said, must “strengthly attack rumor-mongering and spreading, inciting incidents, violent resistance to anti-pandemic measures, and other criminal acts.”

In Shanghai, many neighborhoods have begun requiring residents to resume frequent, often time-consuming, Covid nucleic acid testing – just days after announcing that testing would be infrequent in the future. In this city, which endured a grueling two-month lockdown earlier this year to stamp out a Covid outbreak, the deadly Urumqi fire appeared to reignite public anger over the episode.