STORY: There have been massive protests against corona lockdowns in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Internet videos published on Saturday night are said to show demonstrations in the provincial capital, Urumqi. The crowd called for an end to the lockdown and sang the Chinese national anthem. The protests were triggered by a fire in a skyscraper in Urumqi. It broke out on Thursday evening, killing ten people. The view spread on social networks that the building was partially locked and that many residents therefore did not make it out in time. At a hastily called press conference on Saturday, city officials said the Corona measures had not hindered escape and rescue. China has imposed one of the longest lockdowns in Xinjiang because of the new corona wave. Many of Urumqi’s four million residents are not allowed to leave their homes for up to 100 days. There have been around 100 new corona cases in the city over the past two days. The number of infections has recently risen in the People’s Republic, making it less likely that the strict zero-Covid policy will be relaxed anytime soon.