China’s ongoing COVID lockdowns are fueling public anger, with some residents of Guangzhou, one of the country’s largest cities, holding rare protests against the stricter rules.

In videos circulating on social media, hundreds of people can be seen marching through the streets and breaking police barriers in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, which has been under lockdown since late last month.

The Hong Kong Economic Journal reported that demonstrations took place in several “urban villages”, mainly poor areas where migrant workers live. According to the report, the local government sent several police vehicles to the protest.

The lockdown is showing no signs of abating, even as authorities have eased some restrictions, such as shortening mandatory quarantine periods for incoming travelers and eliminating a system where airlines are punished for carrying infected passengers. Shortage of food and difficulty in getting timely medical treatment are some of the biggest complaints reported by people locked in their homes to prevent outbreaks.

Some posts discussing the protests – considered riots by some – could be found on Weibo and WeChat, China’s two biggest social media platforms, where online discussions are often censored to control public opinion. is done. As of Tuesday morning, hashtags such as “Guangzhou Haizhu District Riot” and “Haizhu Riot” were visible on Weibo, but the posts that could be seen before have disappeared.

Guangzhou has locked down two other districts, Panyu and Liwan, with 5,124 new infections on Monday. Huang Kunming, the Communist Party chief of Guangdong province, where Guangzhou is located, ordered officials to eliminate the virus in communities “as soon as possible”, the paper reported on Monday evening, citing an internal meeting.

China reported more than 17,000 new Covid cases on Monday, its highest since late April.
While Guangzhou accounts for the majority of them, the southwestern megacity of Chongqing has also reported an increase of 2,948 cases. The state media is reiterating that the country is still following COVID zero, even though the increasing number of cases raises questions about it.