Rare protest in Beijing channels Covid frustrations ahead of Chinese Communist Party meeting

BEIJING — Police rushed to a road bridge in Beijing after a column of black smoke appeared above protest banners condemning the Chinese leader Xi Jinping by name – a rare display of defiance in the capital that occurred when senior Communist Party officials arrived to attend a closely watched political rally.

Video footage and photographs of the smoke and two banners – one of which had « Depose treacherous dictator Xi Jinping » scrawled across it in red – circulated widely on Chinese social media platforms on Thursday.