Peaceful Protests are Breaking Out Across Shanghai

Something I never thought I’d see

Photo sent to me by a friend

Tension here in Shanghai is threatening to boil over as residents in apartment complexes all around Xuhui (a district within Shanghai) begin to walk out together in protest of the mandatory lockdowns that continue to be enforced across the city.

It has been over two months since the Shanghai Government mandated that all people remain confined to their homes with no date given as to when the lockdown would end.

The early stages were the hardest, with food being difficult to order and all of us relying on the boxes of vegetables and rice that the government delivered to each family in the city roughly once per week.

Slowly, factories and distributors were allowed to re-open under strict conditions, and we could order food once again. Although, this has only been possible when buying large quantities, forcing customers to buy in volume or band together with neighbors and buy as a group.

As the lockdown has stretched on across weeks and months, the pressure from residents has only continued to grow. Within my building, in-fighting has started to become more common between those who agree with the lockdown and those that don’t.

With businesses either unable to run or only able to run in a limited capacity, more and more people are becoming unemployed by the day.

Food prices are up, and we’re all still obligated to pay our rent, but for many people, the money has stopped coming in entirely. Those that still have a paycheque are getting a reduced amount, and health issues are starting to be a concern.

Things really took a turn today when members of several communities started questioning the guards that police apartment complex gates.

Residents demanded to see Government papers that proved certain rules that the guards were enforcing were legitimate.

These included rules such as exit passes for those that needed to leave for hospital visits and exit allowances for complexes that are within certain city safe zones.

Rules such as these have been made by guards independently of the government, worsening an already bad situation.