Chinese police in show of force in attempt to quell Covid lockdown protests

Protests spread across China

- Helen Davidson and Verna Yu

Chinese police have launched a show of force across the country in an effort to head off further protests against the government's rigid zeroCovid policies and tackle what have become the most extraordinary acts of civil disobedience in the country for decades.

Dozens of police cars lined the streets around a central Beijing subway station and patrolled surrounding blocks yesterday evening, while uniformed and plainclothed officers stood guard at station exits and stopped passersby for questioning. Hours after the scheduled start of a protest organised via encrypted messaging apps there were few apparent participants.

In Shanghai, authorities barricaded a street where protesters had gathered for the past two nights. A heavy police presence lined the city's Middle Ürümqi Road, according to people nearby and footage shared online. Edward Lawrence, a BBC journalist who was detained and beaten by police on Sunday before being freed, filmed bystanders having photos forcibly deleted by police.

Some small actions were held, according to observers sharing videos and photos online. According to a Twitter account that has been sharing protest material in recent days, a small group of people holding up blank sheets of paper in Kunming were later taken away by police.