Protests
in China against government's strict Covid measures have intensified,
with some people publicly venting their anger at the Communist Party
leaders.
Thousands of protesters have turned out in Shanghai, where the BBC has seen people bundled into police cars.
Students have also demonstrated at universities in Beijing and Nanjing.
The
latest unrest follows a protest in the remote north-west city of
Urumqi, where lockdown rules were blamed after 10 people died in a tower
block fire.
While
Chinese authorities deny that Covid restrictions caused the deaths,
officials in Urumqi did issue an unusual apology late on Friday, and
pledged to "restore order" by phasing out restrictions.
'Xi Jinping, step down'
During
Saturday night's protest in Shanghai - China's biggest city and a
global financial hub in the east of the country - people were heard
openly shouting slogans such as "Xi Jinping, step down" and "Communist
party, step down".
Some held blank white banners, while other lit candles and laid flowers for the victims in Urumqi.
Such
demands are an unusual sight within China, where any direct criticism
of the government and the president can result in harsh penalties.
But
analysts say the government appears to have drastically underestimated
growing discontent towards the zero-Covid approach, a policy
inextricably linked to Xi Jinping who recently pledged there would be no
swerving from it.
One
protester in Shanghai told the BBC that he felt "shocked and a bit
excited" to see people out on the streets, calling it the first time
he'd seen such large-scale dissent in China.
He
said lockdowns made him feel "sad, angry and hopeless", and had left
him unable to see his unwell mother, who was undergoing cancer
treatment.
A
female demonstrator told the BBC police officers were asked how they
felt about the protests, and the answer was "the same as you". But, she
said, "they wear their uniforms so they're doing their job."
Others
gave accounts of violence, with one protester telling the Associated
Press news agency one of his friends had been beaten by police at the
scene, while two others had been pepper sprayed.
People gathered again Sunday, laying flowers for the Urumqi fire victims in the area of Shanghai's Urumqi Road.
However, these tributes were gathered up by police, who also attended the protest site en masse.
The
BBC saw police officers, private security guards and plain-clothed
police officers on the streets, confronting protesters who assembled for
a second day.
Demonstrators who led anti-government chants were taken away, and punched or pushed up against a police car in some cases.
Photos
and videos have also emerged online that showed students launching
their own protests at universities in Beijing and Nanjing on Saturday.
Hundreds
of people took part in one such demonstration in Tsinghua University in
the capital, one student told the AFP news agency.
The
group held up blank sheets of paper - an act which has become a symbol
of defiance against Chinese censorship - and were filmed chanting songs
in support of freedom and democracy.
Videos
of the protests are difficult to independently verify, but many of them
show an unusually explicit and outspoken criticism of the government
and its leader.
