People in the Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou clashed with riot police on Tuesday night, videos on social media showed, as frustration with stringent Covid-19 rules boiled over three years into the pandemic.
The clashes in the southern city marked an escalation from protests in the commercial hub of Shanghai, capital Beijing and other cities over the weekend in mainland China’s biggest wave of civil disobedience since President Xi Jinping took power a decade ago.
In one video posted on Twitter, dozens of riot police in all-white pandemic gear, holding shields over their heads, advanced in formation over what appeared to be torn down lockdown barriers as objects fly at them.
Police were later seen escorting a row of people in handcuffs to an unknown location.
Another video clip showed people throwing objects at the police, while a third showed a tear-gas canister landing in the middle of a small crowd on a narrow street, with people then running to escape the fumes.
Reuters verified that the videos were filmed in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, the scene of Covid-related unrest two weeks ago but could not determine when the clips were taken or the exact sequence of events and what sparked the clashes.
Social media posts said the clashes took place on Tuesday night and were caused by a dispute over lockdown curbs.
Resentment is growing as China’s Covid-hit economy sputters after decades of breakneck growth, which formed the basis of an unwritten social contract between the ruling Communist Party and a population whose freedoms have been dramatically curtailed under Mr Xi.
Home to many migrant factory workers, Guangzhou is a sprawling port city north of Hong Kong in Guangdong province, where officials announced late on Tuesday they would allow close contacts of Covid cases to quarantine at home rather than being forced to go to shelters.
The decision broke with the usual practice under China’s zero-Covid policy.
In Zhengzhou, the site of a big Foxconn factory making Apple iPhones that has been the scene of worker unrest over Covid, officials announced the “orderly” resumption of businesses, including supermarkets, gyms and restaurants.
However, they also published a long list of buildings that would remain under lockdown.
Hours before those announcements, national health officials said on Tuesday that China would respond to “urgent concerns” raised by the public and that Covid rules should be implemented more flexibly, according to each region’s conditions.
But while the easing of some measures, which comes as China posts daily record numbers of Covid cases, appears to be an attempt to appease the public, authorities have also begun to seek out those who have been at recent protests.
“Police came to my front door to ask me about it all and get me to complete a written record,” a Beijing resident told Reuters on Wednesday.
Another resident said some friends who posted videos of protests on social media were taken to a police station and asked to sign a promise they “would not do that again”.
It was not clear how authorities identified the people they wanted questioned, nor how many such people authorities contacted.
Beijing’s Public Security Bureau did not comment.
On Wednesday, several police cars and security personnel were posted at an eastern Beijing bridge where a protest took place three days earlier.
In a statement that did not refer to the protests, the Communist Party’s top body in charge of law enforcement agencies said late on Tuesday that China would resolutely crack down on “the infiltration and sabotage activities of hostile forces”.
The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission also said “illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order” would not be tolerated. – Reuters