Protests against China’s strict zero-COVID policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities around the world in a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China over the weekend.
Expatriate dissidents and students staged small-scale vigils and protests in cities around the world including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, according to a Reuters tally.
In most cases, dozens of people attended the protests, though a few drew more than 100, the tally showed.
The gatherings are a rare instance of Chinese people uniting in anger at home and abroad.
The protests in China were triggered by a fire in China’s Xinjiang region last week that killed 10 people who were trapped in their apartments. Protesters said lockdown measures were partly to blame, though officials denied that.
On Monday evening, dozens of protesters gathered in Hong Kong’s Central business district, the scene of sometimes-violent anti-government demonstrations in 2019.
“I think this is the normal right of people expressing their opinion. I think they should not suppress this kind of right,” said Lam, a 50-year-old Hong Kong citizen.
Rare scenes of a vigil in HK to remember victims of the #UrumqiFire since the NSL came into effect. This comes as #ChinaProtests sweep the streets across the mainland. Police took down IDs, but no arrests were made, except for 1 man who shoved an activist. @ChannelNewsAsia pic.twitter.com/GqMOwJEBYn
— Deborah Wong (@DebWongCNA) November 28, 2022
Dozens of students also gathered at the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to mourn those who died in Xinjiang, according to video footage online.
The White House national security council said in a statement the US believed it would be difficult for China to “control this virus through their zero COVID strategy”, adding, that “everyone has the right to peacefully protest, here in the United States and around the world. This includes in the PRC”.
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence, in an email on Monday, urged “the authorities to respond to protests in line with international human rights laws and standards”.
Laurence added that allowing broad debate across society could “help shape public policies, ensure they are better understood and are ultimately more effective”.