On November 23rd a fire broke out in Urumqi’s Jixiang Yuan district in an apartment complex. Because of the Chinese COVID lockdown, it is claimed the doors to the building were locked from the outside; people could not escape. Jennifer Zeng has been documenting the story on Twitter.
Fire trucks were not permitted to get close enough to the building and the people locked inside could not escape.
Chinese media initially said 10 people were killed; however, it was widely believed the death toll exceeds that number with a 3-year-old included. The current death toll stands at 44 victims.
This horrific event seems to have become the inflection point for a large uprising against the Chinese Communist Party and the continual COVID lockdown rules.
(MSM) “Now the episode in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, has unleashed the most defiant eruption of public anger against the ruling Communist Party in years. In cities across China this weekend, thousands gathered with candles and flowers to mourn the fire’s victims. On campuses, students staged vigils, many holding up pieces of blank white paper in mute protest. In Shanghai, some residents even called for the Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, to step down, a rare and bold challenge.”
For the past several days mass protests have been spreading throughout the populous region. Things are getting very spicy as the communist government does not accept civil disturbances as a right of protest.
SHANGHAI (AP) — Protesters angered by strict anti-virus measures called for China’s powerful leader to resign, an unprecedented rebuke as authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress demonstrations Sunday that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party.
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