Rare protests in China as fatal fire collides with zero-COVID fatigue

Published

3 years ago

November 27, 2022

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Public anger in China towards continuing COVID-19 lockdowns has sparked rare protests in a number of major cities in recent days.

The latest demonstrations were prompted by a fire in a high-rise apartment block in the northwestern Xinjiang region on Thursday.

The fire, in the city of Urumqi, killed at least 10 people, and questions have been raised over whether China’s strict lockdown policy stopped residents from escaping the flames.

Officials deny this, and a fire department spokesperson inspired further anger after appearing to blame residents for not being able to “rescue themselves”.

Many Chinese cities have been under strict lockdown for months – many of Urumqi’s four million residents, for example, have been unable to leave their homes for any reason since August.

In Shanghai on Saturday night, police used pepper spray on around 300 protesters who had gathered at Middle Urumqi Road with flowers and candles and holding signs that said “Urumqi November 24” in memory of the fire’s victims.

A protester who gave only his family name, Zhao, told The Associated Press that one of his friends was beaten by police and two friends were pepper sprayed.

He said police stomped on his feet as he tried to stop them from taking his friend away. He lost his shoes in the process, and left the protest barefoot.

Mr Zhao said protesters yelled slogans including “Xi Jinping, step down, Communist Party, step down”, “Unlock Xinjiang, unlock China”, “do not want PCR (tests), want freedom” and “press freedom”.

Reuters reported it had seen a video showing Beijing residents in an unidentifiable part of the city marching around an open-air carpark on Saturday, shouting “end the lockdown”.

Sean Li, a resident of Beijing, told Reuters that a planned lockdown for his compound was called off on Friday after residents spotted workers putting barriers on their gates.

The residents had protested to their local leader and convinced him to cancel the plans.

Mr Li said: “The Urumqi fire got everyone in the country upset.

“That tragedy could have happened to any of us.”

Urumqi, in Xinjiang, saw protests on Friday night, when a vigil for fire victims turned into an anti-lockdown demonstration.

People chanted “open up, open up”, in videos that were shared on social media before being deleted by censors on Saturday.

But the protesters won some concessions, with parts of the city deemed low risk being given a bit more freedom from restrictions during the weekend.

Protests against government policy are rare in China but even more unusual in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang, home to China’s persecuted Uyghur minority, has experienced some of the country’s longest lockdown restrictions, with reports of people left starving earlier in the year.

China’s zero-COVID policy was initially well-received by citizens, who saw it as minimising deaths while other countries were battling huge casualties.

But support has fallen in recent months as Chinese people tire of restrictions that go far beyond what was seen during the UK’s lockdown, for example.

China is the only major country that is still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with mass testing and strict lockdowns.

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

Published

1 hour ago

June 28, 2025

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

If Hungary’s authorities thought banning this year’s Pride march would keep people off the streets, they were wrong.

Thousands turned out in Budapest, defying a law which said LGBTQ+ events like this should be cancelled to protect children.

The crowd was determined to fight for their rights.

“This is a special march, not just because it was the 30th, but also because it was banned,” said Orsi, who proudly wore a rainbow headband and waved a rainbow flag.

“I mean that’s all the more reason to go out on the street and show that Budapest and Hungary is a place where everybody is welcome, where love is equal,” she added.

Attendees had been warned that just being there could mean a 500 euro fine or prison time for the organisers.

They were told police would use facial recognition cameras to identify them, but they didn’t care.

Orsi said it was worth a fine.

Leonas had travelled from Poland to show his support and was also happy to take the risk.

“LGBT rights are attacked across the whole world, and we need to defend each other and work with each other,” he said.

Viktor Orban’s government has repeatedly pitched family values against LGBTQ+ rights.

“The mother is a woman, the father is a man and leave our kids alone,” he told conservative audiences in the past.

He says he is protecting Hungary’s Christian values, but critics say this is just part of a wider attack on democracy which has happened during his 15 years in control.

The Pride ban is just the latest targeting of LGBTQ+ communities.

In 2020, the country abolished its legal recognition of transgender people, and in 2021, politicians passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.

While many were outraged by the attempt to cancel the Pride march, a small number of far-right activists organised demonstrations to show their support:

“Hungary and the Hungarian nation don’t want the aggressive LGBTQ+ propaganda. They are dangerous for our families, they are dangerous for our kids,” said Gabor Kelemen, a member of the 64 Counties Youth Movement.

However, the packed streets showed many disagree.

At one point, as far as the eye could see, the march snaked through streets and across the city’s bridges. The sound of drums and whistles mixing with gay anthems blaring out of speakers.

The organisers said they believed this will be the largest Pride march ever in Budapest.

The crowd was eclectic, with Hungarians from different communities joining a demonstration which many believe is now part of a fight for Hungary’s future.

“This is not only about the complexity of Pride, not only about love or equality… for Hungarians, it’s about sticking together, supporting each other, showing the government that we believe in a different kind of Hungary. We believe in freedom, we believe in democracy,” said activist Adam Kanicsar.

Despite the ban, today Pride attendees were celebrating a victory. But make no mistake, many in Hungary do not support the parade or what they see as an attack on traditional values.

Next year, the country will hold a general election, a vote which will expose how divided Hungary really is.

World

Chants of ‘death to America’ at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Published

1 hour ago

June 28, 2025

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Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.

State-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for 60 people, including four women and four children.

It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven to Azadi Square on trucks adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.

Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.

Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the fighting and is an adviser to Iran‘s supreme leader.

There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.

Iran’s president later thanked people for turning out.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people,” Mr Pezeshkian wrote on social media.

“With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world.”

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the deaths “hard and painful”.

Seemingly referencing the recent airstrikes, he added: “Institutions and structures, however important and valuable, return with new glory and greater strength over time, even if it takes years.”

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its attacks on Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

The US joined in by launching strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obliterated”, however the exact extent of the damage remains unclear.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons project.

Over almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire began on Tuesday.