China Censors Shanghai Protest Videos as Lockdown Anger Grows
By Shirley Zhao
31 March 2022
China is struggling to manage growing public unhappiness over tough Covid Zero measures in Shanghai, one of its wealthiest and most globalized cities, as some residents revolt against lockdown orders which have stretched in some instances to a month.
Tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. took down two videos earlier this week of a rare protest at a Shanghai housing compound after they started trending on the company’s WeChat microblogging and video publishing platforms, according to a person familiar with the matter. The videos had been posted by users to their WeChat timelines, the person said.
In the footage viewed and independently verified by Bloomberg News, dozens of residents behind the gates of the Jiangnan Xinyuan housing estate in Shanghai’s Minhang district chant phrases including “we want to eat,” “we want the right to know,” and “we want freedom.” People there have been confined to their homes since March 2 and residents have undergone more than 10 rounds of mass virus testing, according to official notices from the compound’s WeChat account.
