China: Students sent home to prevent further gatherings
Two days after unprecedented protests in several Chinese cities, and with numerous police officers deployed to prevent further gatherings, students were allowed to return home on Tuesday, November 29. This decision could signal the beginning of a relaxation of health restrictions, after nearly three years of a “zero Covid” policy.
Tsinghua University, where Chinese President Xi Jinping studied and which was the site of a protest on Sunday, along with other educational institutions in Beijing and Guangdong province, have stated that they are protecting their students from Covid-19 by keeping them on campus. However, sending them home is a way to prevent them from protesting again.
Classes and end-of-year exams will continue remotely, online. Universities have chartered buses to take students to the train station, and tests were administered before their departure. China, which has imposed a “zero Covid” policy for almost three years, subjecting its citizens to repeated lockdowns, has experienced a new surge in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks.
It is against this policy – and by extension against the lack of freedom – that many protesters gathered on Saturday and Sunday in at least eight cities across China. This is the most widespread protest movement since the pro-democracy mobilizations of 1989. On Tuesday, a heavy police presence remained in Beijing and Shanghai to prevent further gatherings. Agency
AlloAfricaNews
