China COVID protests mark 'biggest act of resistance' in decades

Analysts see crucial test for Xi as frustration boils over into the streets

20221128 Communication University of China in Nanjing

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 curbs at Communication University of China in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, on Nov. 26. (Video screenshot retouched for security reasons) © Reuters

CISSY ZHOU, Nikkei staff writer

November 28, 2022 12:19 JST

HONG KONG -- Protests over China's "zero COVID" strategy spread in major cities over the weekend, with some demonstrators going so far as to urge President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party to step down -- an act of defiance rarely seen on the mainland since the much larger and more intense Tiananmen Square movement of 1989.