A man jogs May 16 in front of Wanliu, an off-campus dorm for Peking University.
A student who attended the demonstration, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of security concerns, said students at Wanliu, an off-campus dorm in Beijing’s Haidian district, were increasingly frustrated by restrictions banning them from leaving to go to the main campus or even to the hospital. Cafeteria options had become limited, including for minority students with dietary restrictions, and food deliveries were blocked, the student said.
Footage posted online showed students shouting at the vice president of the university as he appeals to them to go back to their dorms and claims he is just trying to safeguard the school. “Is this protecting? What about our rights,” a student can be heard yelling in a video. After about two hours, the protest dispersed while student representatives continued to meet with university staff until the early morning.
China is one of few countries still pursuing a zero-covid policy through hard lockdowns, mass testing and restrictions on residents’ movement. As the controls continue to paralyze daily life,The demonstration, while short and relatively small, carries larger significance for having taken place at Peking University , also known as Beida, which played key roles in previous political movements, such as the 1989 student protests that were crushed by the military.
News about Sunday’s protest was quickly censored on Chinese social media but not before Internet users were able to see videos and posts from students involved. On the microblogging site Weibo, many praised the group for its bravery, with some referring to the fence’s dismantling as the Berlin Wall being torn down. Some posted excerpts from the Youth, a literary magazine started in 1915 that called on China’s young people to launch an intellectual and cultural movement to revitalize the country.