Chinese universities sent students home and police fanned out in Beijing and Shanghai to prevent more protests Tuesday after crowds angered by severe anti-virus restrictions called for leader Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades.
Authorities have eased some controls after demonstrations in at least eight mainland cities and Hong Kong -- but showed no sign of backing off their larger "zero-COVID" strategy that has confined millions of people to their homes for months at a time. Security forces have detained an unknown number of people and stepped up surveillance.
On Sunday, Tsinghua students were told they could go home early for the semester and that the school would arrange buses to take them to the train station or airport. But many people are nervous after police detained some protesters and warned them against demonstrating again. In Beijing, police on Monday visited a resident who attended a protest the previous night, according to a friend who refused to be identified for fear of retaliation. He said the police questioned the resident and warned him not to go more protests.
Public tolerance of the onerous restrictions has eroded as some people confined at home said they struggled to get access to food and medicine. In a video that was verified by The Associated Press, a crowd in Shanghai on Saturday chanted, "Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!" Such direct criticism of Xi is unprecedented.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the American position on the protests in China was the same as it was for demonstrations anywhere.
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