A third-year student who wishes to remain anonymous confirms that the protest took place.
Beijing:
Students have been protesting a coronavirus lockdown at a university in eastern China as authorities across the country are taking small steps away from their tough zero-Covid policy.
Millions of people across China are still facing restrictions, despite some cities rolling back mass testing and imposing restrictions on movement after nationwide anti-lockdown protests last week.
Analysts from the Japanese company Nomura calculated on Monday that some restrictions still apply in 53 cities – where almost a third of the Chinese population lives.
China’s massive security apparatus moved swiftly to quell the demonstrations by deploying a heavy police presence while strengthening online censorship and surveillance.
But videos posted to social media on Tuesday and geolocated by AFP show a crowd of students at Nanjing Tech University on Monday evening demanding to leave campus.
December 5 at #Nanjing Tech University, students gathered to voice their displeasure and then asked to return home voluntarily #COVID cases were found during #lockdown. #ChinaProtests#ChinaRevolt#chinalockdown#A4Revolution#BlankPapersRevolution#Xi Jinping#ENDCCPpic.twitter.com/KAijhhCDbr
— Jennifer Zeng (@jenniferzeng97) December 5, 2022
“Your power is given to you by students, not yourself,” one person can be heard screaming in the footage. “Serve the Students!”
A third-year student who wished to remain anonymous confirmed the protest took place, a day after the school announced it would close the campus for five days due to just one case of Covid.
Chinese universities have restricted their freedom of movement for months, with many requiring students to seek permission to leave campus and banning visitors.
The Nanjing Tech student told AFP that her colleagues were dissatisfied with the university’s poor communication and worried they would not be able to travel home during the winter break.
The footage shows the crowd arguing with university representatives and calling for school leaders to resign.
“If you touch us, you will become the second Foxconn!” shouts a protester in reference to violent demonstrations last month in central China at a factory of the Taiwanese tech giant that supplies Apple.
Other clips showed a police car arriving at the scene and university officials promising students to file their complaints.
The protest in Nanjing comes days after people took to the streets in multiple Chinese cities to demand an end to the zero-Covid policy, with some even calling for the resignation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Hundreds gathered late last month at Beijing’s elite universities, Tsinghua and Beijing, and on campuses in the cities of Xi’an, Guangzhou and Wuhan.
Authorities have cracked down on subsequent attempts to protest, while appearing to comply with some demands by easing some restrictions.
On Tuesday, Beijing said offices and commercial buildings, including supermarkets, will no longer require visitors to show proof of a negative test.
A host of other cities, including Shanghai, have also rejected mass test mandates in recent days.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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