Beijing officials removed rare banners of political protest from an overpass in the Chinese capital on Thursday, according to widely circulated social media on Thursday, days before the start of the Communist Party Congress, which has been held twice in decades.
According to multiple images and videos on Twitter, the banner carried several slogans, including a call to remove President Xi Jinping and end the strict COVID-19 policies blocked in China.
According to the images, the bank could be seen jutting from a road above where the banners were hung in Beijing’s northwestern Haidian quarter.
The incident comes at a compassionate time in the Chinese capital, with officials on high alert for the ruling Communist Party’s 20th Congress. Xi is expected to secure a third leadership term.
“We don’t want COVID tests; we want to eat; We don’t want lockdown; we want to be free,” read one of them.
China’s zero-COVID policy has led to repeated lockdowns and enormous economic damage and has caused widespread dismay in Chinese cities.
Beijing Police didn’t respond to a request for comment transferred to his sanctioned WeChat account.
Images and search terms related to the subject didn’t return any results on China’s heavily cleaned Internet, although several circular references can be set up.
“Had a brave man in Beijing today,” wrote one user, with many thumbs up and roses of support.
Hu Xijin, a former editor of China’s nationalist Global Times tabloid and a high-profile commentator, tweeted on Thursday: “China is currently stable, especially it’s capital Beijing… There is no public discontent in Beijing due to epidemic control as in Some other remote areas. Place in China.
