China. Protesters and police clash in Guangzhou

Footage shows police dressed in white full bodysuits and equipped with transparent riot shields, marching in serried ranks down a street in Haizhu district, as glass objects are thrown around them.

On the videos, geolocated by AFP, cries are heard while orange and blue barricades are knocked down on the ground.

People are also seen throwing objects at the police then, on another extract, a dozen individuals, their hands tied, seem to be arrested by the police.

A Guangzhou resident, who only gave his last name – Chen – told AFP that he saw around 100 police officers converge on the village of Houjiao, which is part of the Haizhu district, and stop at the minus three men Tuesday night.

Unprecedented demonstrations

The important Chinese security system reacted quickly to put an end to the historic demonstrations which took place this weekend in several cities of the country.

The anger had erupted after nearly three years of anti-Covid restrictions, which in China involve repeated confinements and almost daily PCR tests of the population.

The trigger for this mobilization, on an unprecedented scale since the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989, was the fire in a residential building in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region (north-west), which caused 10 deaths.

Internet users have accused the health restrictions in the city of having prevented the rapid arrival of help, an argument swept away by the authorities.

Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, home to more than 1.8 million people, is the epicenter of a new outbreak of Covid-19 cases and has been under lockdown since late October.