Unprecedented acts of
defiance in cities
and university campuses across China.
Anger and frustration
boiling over against the government's
strict zero COVID lockdowns
Protesters in Shanghai
chanting Step down.
Aimed at China's leader
Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party
But also this video from Shanghai
earlier today
showing protesters
being roughed up and dragged away
by police.
People can be heard yelling.
Release them
CNN's Selina Wang is in Beijing.
So you know what is happening there.
What is the latest
Paula, what we are witnessing right
now, it's an extraordinary
historic moment in China.
These protests are breaking out
across the country
from here in the capital
in Beijing to elite college
campuses
to other major metropolises
and even far flung cities.
This is an unprecedented level
of public dissent
since Xi Jinping took power a decade ago.
What we're seeing is
people passed their breaking point.
It's years of pent up anger.
This is three years
of draconian lockdowns
that have cost people's
lives, their livelihoods.
But the trigger for this
wave of protests was a deadly fire
in Xinjiang that killed
at least ten people.
Videos at the scene
indicated that COVID
restrictions prevented victims
from getting help.
But these protesters
not just angry about COVID lockdowns,
they're also targeting
their anger
towards the supreme leader himself.
This protesting in particular
is extraordinary.
Let's just take a listen to it again.
Paula, that
is people in Shanghai
calling Xi
Jinping to step down over and over again.
Those chants go on for quite some time.
They're also calling
for the Communist Party to step down.
I can't overstate
just how shocking it is
to hear this here.
This crowd in Shanghai,
China's wealthiest
and most cosmopolitan city.
And that chanting happening
in a central upscale
part of the city
to be directly calling out for Xi
Jinping to resign.
I mean, this is virtually unheard of.
And in China,
it is extremely dangerous
to publicly criticize
the party, especially Xi himself.
You risk prison time or even worse.
Some protesters also chanted
they don't want COVID test.
We don't want dictatorship.
They want freedom and democracy.
Witnesses told CNN as well
that rows of police officers
were making arrests,
forcefully pushing protesters
into police cars.
But the next day on Sunday,
hundreds of Shanghai residents
returned to continue protesting
despite heavy police presence
and roadblocks.
Videos also showed some protesters
violently dragged away.
And now that area
has been mostly cordoned off.
But what we're seeing
is this tipping point across the country
after years of suffering
and deaths
during lockdowns
because people struggle
to get food, necessities
and emergency care and lockdown.
Paula, a remarkable scene indeed.
Of course,
we don't realistically expect
Xi Jinping to step down.
But is there any sign that the government
might back down on some of
these restrictions?
Well, the government is in a
difficult place right now
because COVID cases continue
to surge, continue to rise.
And the party's line has been that
they need to keep zero COVID
because it's protecting the vulnerable
elderly population
where the vaccination rates
are still lagging behind.
But after that fire in Xinjiang,
after there were protests in Xinjiang
and across the country,
the government did say
it was going to start to relax
some of the COVID lockdowns there.
But at the same time, you have state
media publishing headlines
that are basically
doubling down on zero COVID,
saying it is the best policy for China.
And I just want to reiterate
that fire in Xinjiang,
it really triggered
people's worst nightmares here
because it's really the idea
that any one of us here,
the country
could have been stuck
in a lockdown building
while a fire is raging, unable to get out
or to get help.
Terrifying.
Selina Wang,
thank you so much
for your incredible reporting.
Appreciate it.
And the White House
reacting a short time ago
to the situation in China.
The White House COVID response
coordinator saying China's
strict COVID lockdown
policy isn't realistic.
President Biden's chief medical adviser
Anthony Fauci, also say saying
today he was baffled
why China wasn't
accepting foreign vaccines
instead of relying on medications
that were less effective.