Tonight, 1.1 billion.
That's
how many people in China
have been infected with COVID
in less than two months.
Now, officials claim
that 60,000 people have died
since the restrictions were lifted.
But independent estimates say
that that number is closer to a million
dead people from COVID.
President Xi Jinping admitting China's
surge has been fierce,
but retaliation
against those who dare speak out
against his COVID
policies remains in full force.
Selina Wang with a chilling report
about one of the protesters
who is missing tonight.
It's a report you'll see first OUTFRONT
---
If you're seeing this video,
that means I've already been taken
by the police. So, Sam, what is it?
Has it where?
These are the chilling words
of a young woman in China
who took part in this demonstration
in Beijing on November 27th.
It was one of dozens
of anti-Soviet protests
that erupted in cities across China.
They're chanting that
they don't want COVID test.
They want freedom.
Police lined the streets,
but the mood was calm and peaceful.
Many were there to mourn
the lives lost in China's Urumqi city.
Where a deadly fire
broke out in a lockdown building.
This 26 year old
woman and editor at a publishing house.
So that is why she and her friends
took to the streets.
She said they followed the rules
and didn't have any conflict
with the police.
Soon after filming this,
she was arrested.
She knew her time was nearing.
CNN has learned from sources
that weeks after the protest,
police started rounding up her friends
one by one.
Most of them also young
female professionals.
We tracked down and interviewed
one of her friends
who's been tirelessly
searching for her
for not revealing her name
or any of the sources we've spoken to.
Because of concerns of retribution from
the Chinese state. So now
authorities want to
intimidate ordinary people, she said.
They want to turn people
into emotionless machines.
We can't even gather together to grieve.
Police swiftly
cracked down on the protesters
in some cities
violently pushing
and dragging the demonstrators.
But the Beijing protesters
peacefully dispersed.
Afterwards, police blanketed
protest sites
in some places
authorities check
cell phones for virtual private networks
and tracked down
participants with cell phone data.
Soon after, China
dropped it, zero COVID
policy and opened up.
We'll talk again with you.
In his New Year's Eve address,
Chinese leader Xi
Jinping said it was, quote, only natural
for different people
to have different concerns
or hold different views
on the same issue.
But behind the scenes,
their loved ones
say the retribution continues.
Well, to help
her draw, she's paying a heavy price.
We were born into this land,
so naturally we would
want to make China better.
But now I
feel there's nothing that we can do
she says, breaking down into tears.
Authorities have made no official comment
about the detentions
and will likely never know
how many people have been detained
in connection with the protests.
If it's dozens, hundreds or more,
as people
across China
are celebrating the Lunar New Year
with their newfound freedom,
the young woman says the mothers of her
and her friends
want to know why their daughters
were taken from them.
In her final words in the video message
she made, this call for help.
Don't let us be taken away
or convicted arbitrarily.
Don't let us disappear
from this world unjustly.
That's all
And Aaron, we've learned
that the young woman you saw
there is one of eight friends
who've been quietly detained
after the protest.
We've reached out to Beijing authorities
multiple times for comment
on the detentions.
They have not responded.
Now, the people who know
these young women told us
that they're confused as to why
they were taken,
describing them
as young women
working in publishing
journalism, saying
they're socially minded,
but they are not organizers.
Experts say
the police may have been
suspicious of young,
politically aware women.
Authorities here
also have a well documented
history of targeting feminists.
At least one of the women
detained said she was interrogated
about whether she was involved
in feminist groups Erin.
Incredible. Salena, thank you.