China: Citizens take to the streets against rigid corona measures

STORY: In China, protests against the government’s corona policy broke out again in several cities on Sunday. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Shanghai. The police arrested numerous people. Including a reporter from the BBC. He was released hours later. In the capital Beijing, too, people took to the streets against the strict corona measures. The protests were triggered by a fire in a high-rise building in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province. It broke out on Thursday evening, killing ten people. The view spread on social networks that the building was partially closed due to the corona restrictions and that many residents therefore did not make it out in time. City officials said the measures did not impede escape and rescue. China is seeing the highest number of new infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, with more than 40,000 new cases per day, according to the National Health Commission. According to official figures, the number of corona deaths in China is 5233 people.