After a fatal fire Incident, protests break out in Xinjiang and Beijing

Public resentment in China is growing. As countrywide infections established a new high, COVID-19 lockdowns around the nation erupted into unusual demonstrations in Beijing and China’s far western Xinjiang region.

According to videos shared on Chinese social media on Friday night, crowds gathered in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, on Friday night, chanting “End the lockdown!” and pumping their fists in the air. A deadly fire on Thursday sparked resentment over their protracted COVID-19 lockdown according to videos circulated on Chinese social media on Friday night.

Videos showed people singing the Chinese national anthem, which includes the line “Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves!” while others shouted for the lockdowns to be lifted.

According to Reuters, the video was shot in Urumqi, where many of its 4 million residents have been subject to some of the nation’s longest lockdowns and have been prohibited from leaving their homes for up to 100 days.

Some residents of the city under lockdown staged small-scale protests or confronted local officials about the movement restrictions placed on them, and some were successful in pressuring them into lifting them ahead of schedule. Beijing, the capital city, was 2,700 km (1,678 miles) away.

Ten people were killed in a high-rise building fire in Urumqi on Thursday night. The case went viral on social media as many internet users hypothesized that residents were unable to escape in time because the building was partially locked down. This fire served as a significant catalyst for the public outrage.

Internet users continued to challenge the official account when Ad Urumqi officials convened an impromptu news conference in the early hours of Saturday to deny COVID procedures had delayed escape and rescue.

Everyone in the nation was upset by the Urumqi fire, according to Beijing resident Sean Li.

Residents protested to their local leader and persuaded him to cancel the planned lockdown for his compound, “Berlin Aiyue,” on Friday. The negotiations were recorded in a video that was shared on social media.

When workers began installing barriers on their gates, the locals learned about the plot. He said, “Any of us could have experienced that catastrophe.”

According to a Reuters count of social media posts by residents, at least ten other compounds had by Saturday night lifted lockdown before the stated end-date.