China’s COVID-19 lockdown measures prompt protesters in New York, Harvard and Chicago
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Hundreds of people gathered at Harvard University and near Chinese consulates in New York and Chicago on Tuesday to support protesters who have called on this country’s leader to step down amid tough virus restrictions during the biggest protests against the government in Beijing in decades.
About 50 protesters, mostly students from the elite Ivy League school, sang songs in Chinese and English and chanted slogans in both languages, including: « We are not slaves, we are citizens ! “We don’t want dictatorships, we want elections! and “Resign, Xi Jinping,” a reference to the Chinese president.
Many of those who had gathered in front of the statue of the university’s namesake, John Harvard, wore masks – not because of COVID-19, but feared that if recognized by Chinese authorities, their families back home would be impacted.
Relatives could be harassed or even lose their jobs, said Wayne, a Harvard graduate student in China participating in the protest who did not want his full name used out of concern for relatives at home.
A man places a mask over the eyes of the statue of John Harvard in Harvard Yard as nearly 100 students and professors demonstrate against China’s strict anti-virus measures on November 29, 2022 at Harvard University.
In New York, around 400 people gathered in front of the consulate, holding signs reading « Citizen Dignity Freedom » and « Free China ».
In Chicago, around 200 protesters gathered outside the Chinese consulate. Some chanted, « We don’t want PCR tests, we want food! » and « We don’t want a dictator, we want votes! »
Protesters brought flowers, lit candles and covered their faces with signs, masks and blank sheets of paper, which Chinese protesters used as a symbol of defiance of government censorship.
« I came because I want to do everything I can to help my people, » said a 21-year-old dressed in a hazmat suit, a reference to suits worn by people administering COVID tests -19 mandatory in China.
She asked to be identified only as a performance artist because her parents are members of the Chinese Communist Party and she fears they will be arrested if she is identified.
« They would be very concerned » if they knew she was protesting, she said.
The Chinese authorities’ restrictive « zero-COVID » strategy has led to protests in at least eight mainland cities and Hong Kong. They have been called the most widespread protests since the student-led pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Some Chinese universities sent students home and police deployed in Beijing and Shanghai to prevent further protests on Tuesday. Security forces arrested an unknown number of people and intensified surveillance.
A protest also took place at Columbia University on Monday, and protests in support of the Chinese people have taken place or are planned at other US universities in the coming days.
Harvard protesters also laid flowers at the base of the statue – a famous spot in Harvard Yard usually surrounded by tourists – to honor the 10 people killed in a fire in northwest China last week, deaths that some blamed it on the strict anti-virus checks.
Brabeeba Wang, a former Harvard student now studying neuroscience at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology, unmasked and played the violin to accompany the vocals.
« It’s great to see people fighting for their freedom and fighting for their freedom of speech, » said Wang, who is from Taiwan.
He called protesters in China ‘brave’ for standing up to the government
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