Sunday, November 27, 2022

Anti-US protest in Leipzig runs into large counterdemonstrations

DPA
November 26, 2022

Police officers stand by burning trash containers during a demonstration. Participants of a left-wing demonstration blocked a right-wing march in Leipzig. The initiators of the right-wing demonstration under the slogan "Ami go home" demanded that the USA withdraw its troops and nuclear weapons on German soil.

Sebastian Willnow/dpa

Police officers stand by burning trash containers during a demonstration. Participants of a left-wing demonstration blocked a right-wing march in Leipzig. The initiators of the right-wing demonstration under the slogan "Ami go home" demanded that the USA withdraw its troops and nuclear weapons on German soil. Sebastian Willnow/dpa

Police in the eastern German city of Leipzig said on Saturday that far fewer people than expected turned out for a demonstration against the remaining US military presence in Germany.

Many of the hundreds who gathered near the US consulate in the city waved banners reading "Ami go home." "Ami" is a common term in Germany for Americans.

The protesters demanded that the US troops and nuclear weapons still based in Germany be removed. Among the protesters was Jürgen Elsässer, publisher of Compact, a magazine that German courts have labelled as right-wing extremist.

Police said they counted about 900 people in the protest, several known for ties to right-wing groups. Organizers had said to expect around 15,000.

They were also met by counterdemonstrators, some of who sat down to block the protesters' path, but some who clashed actively with the anti-American protesters. Pyrotechnics were ignited during at least one counterdemonstration.

Police said the counterdemonstration was significantly larger than the right-wing protest, with a turnout in the low thousands.

A police spokesperson said officers were out in force and "ready for anything."

Police officers stop participants of a demonstration. The initiators of the demonstration under the slogan "Ami go home" demanded that the USA withdraw its troops and nuclear weapons on German soil. Sebastian Willnow/dpa

Participants of a demonstration carry a banner. The initiators of the right-wing demonstration under the slogan "Ami go home" demanded that the USA withdraw its troops and nuclear weapons on German soil. Sebastian Willnow/dpaRead More

Hundreds take part in Belfast protest over soaring living costs

Hundreds of activists taking part in a protest in Belfast have demanded action on soaring living costs and rising energy prices.

By Cate McCurry, PA

The protest, organised by the Cost of Living Coalition Belfast, started at Custom House Square at around 1pm and made its way to Writers' Square, where a number of speeches took place.

Representatives from trade unions and community groups addressed the assembled crowd on Saturday.

A spokesman for the group said: "Stormont is in crisis and the Tory government is in tatters, but our communities won't idly wait for action on the cost-of-living crisis.

Protestors held a cost of living demonstration in Belfast on Saturday, demanding action on soaring living costs and rising energy prices

"Workers are striking for better pay and people are fighting back in the face of skyrocketing costs and bills.

"We won't wait for politicians to get their house in order while people struggle to heat their homes or put food on the table.

"We won't wait while those in power refuse to tackle the booming profits of the bosses and the super-rich."

The group added: "The Tory government has promised more misery for working-class people in the autumn budget, but we won't let the threat of more austerity go unchallenged."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll also addressed the march.

"Chris Heaton-Harris will not implement these measures without a fight," the West Belfast MLA said.

"The Tories are launching a renewed attack on working class people, who have simply had enough.

"Today's demonstration was a significant step in building an opposition to this rotten Tory regime.

"Striking workers who spoke today are leading the fight for a better and fairer society. They'll be joined by many more in taking that fight directly to the Tories in time ahead."

Scots Teachers announce 16-day strike action

by Louise Wilson
25 November 2022
@louisewilso

Teachers take part in a rally at the Scottish Parliament | Credit: Alamy

Teachers are set to strike for 16 days in January and February over the continuing pay dispute.

The EIS, the largest teaching union in Scotland, said its members had been “forced into the escalation” of strike action.

It accused the Scottish Government and Cosla of showing “bad-faith” after earlier this week tabling a pay offer 30 minutes before the union’s committee was due to meet and giving the details to the press.

EIS members went on strike for the first time in four decades on Thursday after negotiations reached a stalemate.

The union is seeking a 10 per cent pay increase and claimed the offer on Wednesday was a “reheated five per cent offer”.

The Scottish Government said the offer represented a “a cumulative pay increase for the majority of teachers of 21.8 per cent since 2018”.

Teachers will strike in two local authority areas each day between Monday 16 January and Monday 6 February, starting with Glasgow and East Lothian.

Strike action which had already been confirmed for 10 and 11 January is still set to go ahead.

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “We have been forced into the escalation of this action by the lack of willingness to negotiate properly and to pay teachers properly, by a government that says it wished to be judged on its record on education.

“The judgement of Scotland’s teachers on the matter of pay is clear, with the first programme of national strike action that we have engaged in for four decades.

“It is now for the Scottish Government and COSLA to resolve this dispute, and prevent further strike action, by coming back to the negotiating table with a substantially improved pay offer for all of Scotland’s teaching professionals.”

IT'S NEITHER

NHS Scotland strikes: Scottish Government makes 'best and final' pay deal

by Kirsteen Paterson
24 November 2022

Humza Yousaf

Health bosses have made a "best and final offer" to NHS staff in a bid to avoid strike action.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the deal - worth £515m in 2022-23 - underlines the Scottish Government's commitment to "supporting our fantastic NHS staff".

The offer is a Scottish record and is described by the Scottish Government as "the best in the UK".

The lowest paid staff are offered an 11.3 per cent uplift against an average for all staff of 7.5 per cent. A review into reducing the working week to 36 hours is included.

Yousaf said: "We are making this offer at a time of extraordinary financial challenges to the Scottish Government. We have made the best offer possible to get money into the pockets of hard-working staff and to avoid industrial action in what is already going to be an incredibly challenging winter."

The package includes a pay rise of 8.7 per cent to newly-qualified nurses (£2,205), with uplifts of between £2,450 and £2,751 for more experienced staff, backdated to April.

The Royal College of Nursing, Unite, GMB union and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have also backed strike action amidst pay disputes.

Ambulance staff in the Unite union has suspended work-to-rule action tomorrow and will put the deal to members in a ballot.

Holyrood provides comprehensive coverage of Scottish politics, offering award-winning reporting and analysis

by Louise Wilson
Scottish Government accused of running ‘two-tier’ health system

MENOPAUSE IS NOT SICK TIME
Managers should record menopause-related absences, new NHS England guidance says

UNIONS SHOULD MAKE IT PAID TIME OFF ALONG WITH MENSTURAL TIME OFF

by Beth Gault
25 November 2022

New guidance to help managers support staff through the menopause recommends that they record menopause-related absences.

The NHS England document also includes a checklist for practices to work through to assess if they are ‘menopause friendly’.

Supporting our NHS people through menopause: guidance for line managers and colleagues, said that practices should record menopause-related absences so they can better understand the impact it is having on staff.

However, it added that those NHS organisations not using electronic staff records, including in primary care, would need to take a ‘bespoke approach’ to determine how exactly to capture this staff absence data.

The guidance said: ‘By recording menopause-related absences accurately, organisations can gain a better understanding of the impact menopause is having on their colleagues and put in place the necessary support. It is recommended that each practice includes the recording of menopause-related absence when reviewing practice-based sickness levels.’

Practices can also use the guidance to assess how ‘menopause friendly’ they are.

It includes questions such as: is there a menopause guidance document in place?, is there the right training and support available?, and are workplace facilities menopause friendly?

Line managers are urged to foster an open and inclusive culture where staff feel they can talk about issues related to menopause. They can do this by:Normalising asking for help

Increasing their own and their team’s knowledge and awareness of the menopause and access training on how to have wellbeing conversations with staff

Linking to local occupational health and wellbeing services, employee assistance programmes, organisational health and wellbeing champions

Sharing details of wellbeing support available with staff

Encouraging attendance at organisational menopause support groups and networks

Considering flexible working to help staff cope with symptoms.

Managers were also reminded to be aware of transgender, non-binary and intersex staff who may experience the menopause.

‘It is important to acknowledge some trans, non-binary and intersex staff may not wish to disclose their menopausal symptoms as this may mean disclosing their trans or intersex status,’ it said.

‘It can therefore be particularly difficult for these employees to access support and/or ask for adjustments. Within each of these groups, people’s needs will be different and so it is crucial to listen to people on an individual basis and allow them to take the lead on their conversations and required adjustments.’

The BMA has welcomed the guidance, calling on employers to put it into action to ensure staff are supported and to ‘stop the stigma around a normal physiological process’.

It said its own research has found that a significant number of women senior doctors have reduced their hours, left management roles, or intend to leave medicine altogether because of the barriers they faced when going through the menopause.

Dr Latifa Patel, BMA representative body chair, said: ‘We have always emphasised that simple steps can be taken by employers to help retain women experiencing the menopause and ensure less lost working days because of menopausal symptoms – tangible actions such as better access to flexible working patterns, access to appropriate facilities and occupational health services, and provision of wellbeing support.’

She added: ‘At a time when the NHS is experiencing widespread and significant workforce shortages it has never been more important that we support all staff to reach their potential so that they can continue to offer their best to patients.’

The guidance comes after MPs were told that menopause should be included in the QOF framework to improve diagnosis and treatment.

Read the NHS England guidance in full here.

Riots break out in Belgium, Netherlands after Morocco’s World Cup win

Raf Casert, Associated Press

Nov 27, 2022

BRUSSELS (AP) — Riots broke out in several Belgian and Dutch cities after Morocco’s 2-0 upset win over Belgium at the World Cup Sunday.

Police detained about a dozen people after they deployed water cannons and fire tear gas to disperse crowds in Brussels and eight more in the Northern city of Antwerp. Two police officials were injured in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. By late evening Sunday, an uneasy calm had returned to most of the cities involved.

READ MORE: Morocco beats Belgium 2-0, pulling off another World Cup upset

Dozens of rioters overturned and torched cars, set electric scooters on fire and pelted cars with bricks. Police moved in after one person suffered facial injuries, said Brussels police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere.

Brussels mayor Philippe Close urged people to stay away from the city center and said authorities were doing their utmost to keep order in the streets. Even subway and tram traffic had to be interrupted on police orders.

“Those are not fans, they are rioters. Moroccan fans are there to celebrate,” Close said. There were also disturbances in the city of Antwerp and Liege.

“Sad to see how a few individuals abuse a situation to run amok,” said Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden.

Police in the neighboring Netherlands said violence erupted in the port city of Rotterdam, with riot officers attempting to break up a group of 500 soccer supporters who pelted police with fireworks and glass. Media reported unrest in the capital Amsterdam and The Hague.

Morocco’s victory was a major upset at the World Cup and was enthusiastically celebrated by fans with Moroccan immigrant roots in many Belgian and Dutch cities.

Why anti-poverty researchers bristle at holiday appeals for food bank donations

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Campaigns for food bank donations are a staple of the holiday season, but some Canadian food insecurity researchers say the appeals can be tough to swallow.

Josh Smee, the executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador-based non-profit Food First N.L., says he tends to feel conflicted during the holidays when calls ramp up to donate to local food banks, often accompanied by messaging about ending hunger.

Hunger is an income issue, he said, adding people don't have enough food because they don't have money to buy it.

Smee said donating to food banks won't put more money in the pockets of people who rely on them for meals, but systemic change — such as increasing minimum wages and income support levels — will.

"The reality of it is that we've built a system where private charity is filling in for where the social safety net should be," Smee said in a recent interview. "Right now it is absolutely imperative that people donate when they can. But I think that when folks make those donations, they should also be reaching out to decision makers to let them know that it's not acceptable that these circumstances exist."

Research from Proof, a national food insecurity working group based at the University of Toronto, shows nearly 16 per cent of households across Canadian provinces adjusted their diets or simply went without in 2021 because there wasn't enough food on hand.

In the same sample, researchers found about 63 per cent of households receiving social assistance or income support last year were food insecure. The same was true of nearly 14 per cent of surveyed households where income came from wages or salaries, the group's research said.

Related video: Food banks struggle with fewer donations
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Meanwhile, annual social assistance rates for a single person in 2021, including tax breaks, ranged from $7,499 in New Brunswick to $13,838 in Prince Edward Island, according to a report released last week by Toronto-based anti-poverty think tank Maytree.

Smee said he wants to see provincial governments index social assistance rates to inflation and raise minimum wages. He's also part of an effort to encourage the Newfoundland and Labrador government to implement a basic income program.

"Poverty is just so expensive," Smee said. "Effectively, what we're all doing as individual taxpayers ... is we're subsidizing keeping income support rates low and keeping wages low. Because those folks are then reaching out for either state supports or charity."

Lynn McIntyre, emeritus professor of community health at the University of Calgary's medical school, said she feels despair every year as people are urged to donate to local food banks.

"I think I've gone past despair, but I still haven't reached resignation," said McIntyre, who is part of the Proof research group. "I'm very, very disappointed that we continue to think that this problem that is related to inadequate income can be solved by food."

Food banks first opened in Canada in the early 1980s and were supposed to be a temporary support amid a growing recession, McIntyre said. She said continued government investment into food banks signals that those in power aren't prepared to tackle the root causes of hunger, which include inadequate incomes.

She said she was pleased to hear Smee's organization held a conference Saturday in St. John's, N.L., called "Rethinking Food Charity." The event was aimed at helping non-profits like food banks be more involved in advocating for systemic change.

"I do think that that's really what needs to be said. Don't just drop a can and then say, 'But I I really believe in basic income' or 'I believe in poverty reduction initiatives.' I think we have to absolutely stop these responses and beef up our current system."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2022.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press

Letter: The uber-rich should help pay for climate action

Reader Letters •Leader Post

Delegates arrive at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 7, 2022.© Provided by Leader Post

The recent COP27 meeting established a loss and damage fund to compensate developing countries for horrendous impacts of climate change. This is being touted as the only major “breakthrough” of the conference.

The original idea was first proposed more than 30 years ago and a commitment of at least $100 billion per year was agreed to at the 21st COP in Paris in 2015. Unfortunately, the current agreement still does not include anything about who will pay or when; this might possibly be done by next year’s COP.

Meanwhile the 10 richest people in the world increased their wealth from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion during the first two years of Covid while the vast majority of people suffered financially, physically and mentally. The United States, which has consistently blocked this agreement, currently has 975 billionaires with a collective wealth of $4.45 trillion. Is there something wrong here? Perhaps these billionaires might consider picking up the tab as it would represent less than 2.5 per cent of their wealth.

Lynn Oliphant, Saskatoon

Cabinet minister rejects national misogyny and racism inquiry

Image caption,
A report into London Fire Brigade found it was "institutionally misogynist and racist"

A national inquiry into institutional misogyny and racism in the workplace has been rejected by the government.

The inquiry was called for by the authors of a damning report into London Fire Brigade's workplace culture.

It found "dangerous levels of prejudice against women" while those from minority backgrounds were "frequently the target of racist abuse".

Nazir Afzal, who led the report, said it was a national issue and called for a wider inquiry.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) report, which was based on the experiences of hundreds of staff members, made 23 recommendations.

It listed a number of instances of abuse and poor behaviour at almost all levels of the brigade including:

Multiple cases of bullying "and the targeting of ethnic minorities and women", with some complaints not investigated
A black firefighter had a noose put by his locker
Women "sexually taunted", including one who received video calls from a man exposing his genitalia
Men "huddled around a screen watching porn" at some fire stations
A Muslim firefighter, bullied because of his faith, had bacon put in his sandwich by colleagues

Mr Afzal said that since the report was published, he had been contacted by staff from other organisations, including the BBC, NHS, the armed forces and police forces, who said they were experiencing similar issues.

Mr Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, said: "We're not talking about a tiny outbreak here, a tiny outbreak there.

"This is a national pandemic issue, which requires a national pandemic-type response."

Image caption,
Cabinet minister Mark Harper said the report's findings were "absolutely appalling"

But Transport Secretary Mark Harper dismissed this, telling Sky's Sophie Ridge on Sunday programme: "I don't think you want every organisation in the entire country, when there hasn't been a specific event, to be setting up inquiries all over the place.

"But I do think all leaders of organisations should look at that report and think whether it could happen in their organisation.

"If they think it could, then they should think about what they need to do about making sure it couldn't."

The LFB review was established in response to the death of firefighter Jaden Francois-Esprit, who took his own life in August 2020.

Speaking about the findings, Mr Harper said: "Frankly they were absolutely appalling. I worked in business before I was in politics and that behaviour just wouldn't be acceptable in any workplace.

"That inquiry was triggered by a specific case, of the tragic suicide of someone who took their own life as a result of bullying,

"I don't know any similar examples of elsewhere."

What is diphtheria and how many people are vaccinated against it after disease linked to Manston migrant death

Diphtheria is a serious illness and sometimes fatal, especially in children, if it’s not treated quickly

By Brendan McFadden

Freelance reporter and late editor

November 27, 2022

The Government admitted on Saturday that a PCR test on the man who died after being held at the centre for a week indicates that “diphtheria may be the cause of the illness”.

UK Health Security Agency officials are expected to confirm on Monday the number of infections has risen to about 50, The Sunday Times reports – though ministers have denied that the virus is spreading as a result of squalid conditions at the controversial processing centre.

Asylum seekers cannot be legally held at Manston for more than 24 hours – but new arrivals have been left waiting there for days on end amid a scramble to find suitable accommodation.

There are also concerns the disease could spread to the wider UK population as asylum seekers were moved from the Kent facility to hotels around the country.

But what is diphtheria, is there a risk of an increase in cases across the nation, and how many people are vaccinated against it? Here’s what you need to know about the disease.

What is diphtheria?

Diphtheria is a contagious airborne infection, which can lead to difficulty breathing, heart rhythm problems, and even death.

It mainly affects the nose and throat, and sometimes the skin – and is spread by coughs and sneezes, or through close contact with someone who is infected.

The disease can also be spread by sharing items, such as cups, cutlery, clothing or bedding, with an infected person.

The disease, caused by strains of bacteria called corynebacterium, thrives in areas of poor sanitation.

Diphtheria is a serious illness and sometimes fatal, especially in children, if it’s not treated quickly.

What are the symptoms of diphtheria?

Symptoms typically start two to five days after a person contracts the infection.

They include:

A thick, grey-white coating on the back of your throat, nose and tongue
A high temperature
A sore throat
Swollen glands in your neck
Difficulty breathing and swallowing
Cutaneous diphtheria is an infection of the skin and symptoms include pus-filled blisters and large ulcers.

Who is vaccinated against it?

Vaccination against diphtheria is offered in the UK through a routine childhood vaccination schedule.

A six-in-one childhood jab is given to babies in the UK. It is also given to youngsters aged 3 years 4 months as part of a 4-in-one pre-school jab. And youngsters aged 14 years receive it as part of a 3-in-1 teenage booster.

The vaccines protect the majority of people for approximately 10 years.

Booster jabs are offered on the NHS and the health service recommends having one if people are travelling to an area where diphtheria is considered to be high risk.

In the period 2020/2021, uptake of the UK’s childhood vaccination schedule was more than 90 per cent for all UK countries, according to independent health think tank Nuffield Trust.

But uptake is lower in other parts of the world – meaning migrants in the UK could be more vulnerable.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), during 2021, about 81 per cent of infants worldwide (105 million infants) received 3 doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine.

Is there a risk of the disease spreading?

The NHS maintains that there is little risk of diphtheria spreading among the general population. Cases are rare in the UK and the disease can be treated easily with antibiotics and other medicines.

Diphtheria is a very rare infection in England due to the success of the routine immunisation programme that was introduced in 1942, when the average annual number of cases was about 60,000 with 4,000 deaths.

Dr Trish Mannes, of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “The risk of diphtheria to the wider public remains very low, due to high uptake of the diphtheria vaccine and because the infection is typically passed on through close prolonged contact.”

Transport Secretary Mark Harper claimed people at the Manston migrant processing centre had diphtheria before they arrived in the UK and insisted there is “extremely low risk to the wider community”.

He told Sky News: “On the diphtheria issue, there’s extremely low risk to the wider community, that’s a disease… the vaccination is in the standard childhood vaccination.

“We take the welfare of people in our care very seriously. My understanding is those cases were people who had that disease before they came to the United Kingdom.”

Pay rises matching inflation are unaffordable, minister warns as strikes loom

WHITE COLLAR, BLUE COLLAR, PINK COLLAR

WE ARE ALL PROLETARIANS NOW

Sunday 27 November 2022

Rail workers on strike

Public sector pay rises in line with soaring inflation are “unaffordable”, Transport Secretary Mark Harper has said, raising the chances of a winter of strikes going ahead.

The Cabinet minister said on Sunday there “simply isn’t the money” to meet the demands of workers preparing to take industrial action, but hinted at progress in talks over rail strikes.

Mr Harper indicated a change in the mandate for negotiations and said pay rises could come if rail workers accept reforms, after holding “positive” talks with Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Lynch.

The Transport Secretary said 'we simply can’t afford some of the huge pay rises'

Nurses are set to stage their first-ever UK-wide strike action next month, as they join transport and postal workers on the picket lines in disputes over pay and conditions.

Mr Harper told ITV News the country is facing a huge economic challenge "made in Russia" and insisted public sector workers have been offered pay rises that the government thinks are affordable.

"We simply can’t afford some of the huge pay rises that we’ve seen that’s been demanded," he said.

When are the upcoming rail strikes and which routes will be affected?

When are all the strikes set to be held across the country?

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said inflation-busting pay deals are unaffordable

Credit: PA

He told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that rail bosses “will have the ability to reach a deal”, when pressed about whether they have the mandate to properly negotiate with the RMT.

“But we have to be able to have that reform package negotiated, because it’s only that that throws up the savings,” Mr Harper said.

“I do not have a bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money to throw at this problem.”

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We have been clear we want to do a deal with the RMT which delivers the long overdue reforms the railway needs to improve services and unlocks the funds for an affordable pay rise.

“With time running out to avert the widespread Christmas disruption which would result from further industrial action, we need the RMT to call off the strikes and work with us to reach a fair deal for our people, our passengers and for the taxpayer.”

Those hoping the strikes will be called off by Christmas, including TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, welcomed a “change in tone” from the Government.

Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry said he has “real hope” for a settlement as he criticised Mr Harper’s predecessor as transport secretary, Grant Shapps, for making a “big mistake” by taking a “not me guv” approach to talks.

Public sector workers like many in the private sector are calling for significant raises so they do not face real-terms cuts, as inflation soars past 11%.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has agreed to increase state pensions and benefits payments in line with inflation, but has said nurses’ demand for a 19% hike is “unaffordable”.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will walk out on December 15 and 20 if the dispute is not resolved.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has urged the nursing union to “come back to the table” for talks, but he is declining to discuss pay, instead wanting to talk about conditions such as pension arrangements, holidays, rosters and the availability of free coffee.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen however said it is “negotiations or nothing”. Writing to Mr Barclay over the weekend, she said: “If the negotiation table is empty, we can see you are not serious about progress.”

UK Nurses tell Health Secretary it’s ‘pay negotiations or nothing’ to avert strikes

26 November 2022

Steve Barclay urged the RCN to ‘come back to the table’ for talks about working conditions.

The Royal College of Nursing has told the Health Secretary it is negotiations on pay “or nothing” after he urged the union to return for talks about working conditions to avert strikes.

Steve Barclay on Saturday continued his refusal to discuss pay as nurses prepare to strike on December 15 and 20 unless they get a 19% rise.

He wrote to the RCN urging its representatives to “come back to the table” for talks, with a Whitehall source suggesting these could include subjects such as pension arrangements, holidays, rosters and the availability of free coffee.

You cannot shut them out and then repeat that your door is open. If the negotiation table is empty, we can see you are not serious about progress

Pat Cullen

But the RCN’s general secretary Pat Cullen swiftly responded with a letter saying she would only be returning for pay talks after members voted heavily in favour of industrial action.

“I’m afraid the position of my members is ‘negotiations or nothing’,” she wrote.

“You cannot shut them out and then repeat that your door is open. If the negotiation table is empty, we can see you are not serious about progress.

“This dispute needs resolving and strike action is now little over a fortnight away.

“On behalf of every nurse, let’s negotiate.”

Nurses strike — Pat Cullen (Aaron Chown/PA)

Since the result of the ballot was made public two weeks ago, the RCN said it has sought detailed and formal negotiations with the Government and has attended two meetings with the Health Secretary that it maintained did not focus on this year’s NHS pay dispute.

On the matter of strike exemptions and patient safety, the union will meet senior NHS officials in the coming days.

Mr Barclay wrote to Mrs Cullen to “express my deep regret that you have declined my offer of a meeting”.

“I want to reiterate what I have said previously: my door is open to discuss how to improve the working lives of nurses and other staff,” he added.

“I urge you to reconsider your position and come back to the table.

“I would once again like to make clear that I, my colleagues across Government, and indeed the public, value the care provided by nurses up and down this country and I am disappointed that you have taken this unprecedented step.”

The Health Secretary and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have said the nursing union’s demand for a 19.2% pay rise costing an estimated £10 billion a year is unaffordable.

But an RCN spokesperson said: “This is gross scaremongering and many multiples of the accurate costs.”

The college says experienced nurses are worse off by 20% in real terms due to successive below-inflation awards since 2010, despite a pay rise of about £1,400 awarded in the summer.

By Press Association

UK nurses prepare for unprecedented strike over pay

ByKaren Graham
Published November 25, 2022

Nurses in UK protesting pay gap in 2020. Source - Garry Knight from London, England, CC SA 2.0.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced strikes on 15 and 20 December in its pay dispute with the government.

The national strikes – the first in the RNC’s 106-year history – are expected to last for 12 hours on both days. The Guardian is reporting that the strikes will be the first in a series of strikes over the winter and into the spring by NHS staff, including junior doctors and ambulance workers.

The RCN said it had been given no choice after ministers would not reopen talks, but the government said the 19 percent pay raise demanded was unaffordable.

Yet, nursing staff is either using food banks to help feed their children or actually leaving nursing to work in supermarkets where the work is less stressful and the pay is better, according to Reuters.

Chukwudubem Ifeajuna, a nurse in the south of England, said, “I have a few staff who are using food banks at the moment. I’ve had to cut down on a lot of things with the kids and I can’t afford to provide for them because of the high cost of living. So it’s really really tough, for everyone, not just myself.”

“We are striking because we deserve to be paid better. We haven’t had decent pay for over a decade now.”

Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union in England, said the government must listen. “This is not something that nurses do at the drop of a hat,” she told Reuters.

As an example, 15,000 pounds converted to US dollars based on the latest exchange rate
equals: $18,106.89

Even though the strikes will last 12 hours each time, under trade union laws, the RCN has to ensure that life-preserving care is provided during the strikes.

This means that some urgent cancer services, urgent tests and scans, and ongoing care for vulnerable patients will be protected alongside A&E and intensive care – although it will be up to local health bosses and union leaders to negotiate exact staffing levels on strike days.

However, the strikes that are expected to go on through the spring will certainly increase the backlog in non-urgent hospital treatment, according to The BBC. A record seven million people are already on the waiting list in England.

Louise Ansari, from the Healthwatch England patient watchdog, said she was “concerned” about the impact on this group of patients.

And added to the strikes being planned by nurses, The Guardian notes that postal workers, university staff, and Scottish schoolteachers went on strike on Thursday, while rail unions reaffirmed plans for eight days of national strikes despite a “positive” meeting with ministers.

UPDATED

‘Down with Xi Jinping’: Protests erupt across China as COVID fury mounts

Protests spread in China as anger mounts over ‘zero-COVID’

Residents and students rally in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, with some even calling on Xi Jinping to step down.

The New Daily and AAP

6:20am, Nov 28

Brazen protests have erupted across China — including in the country’s biggest city Shanghai — as simmering frustrations over the zero-COVID policy boil over into defiance.

While much of the world has moved on from strict lockdowns, China’s President Xi Jinping has vowed not to swerve from stamping out the virus — three years into the pandemic.

In a rare display of public anger, thousands of people have taken to the streets chanting “Xi Jinping, step down” and “Communist party, step down”.

Some held blank pieces of paper as a symbol of censorship and white flowers which signify warning.

Students were also demonstrating in the major citiies of Beijing and Nanjing over the weekend.

China observers said the protests were unprecedented under Mr Xi, who recently secured an unprecedented third term as leader of the Communist Party, and could lead to harsh reprisals.

People on the streets of Shanghai in a rare show of anger. Photo: Getty

The latest outbursts follow a protest in the remote north-west city of Urumqi where the deaths of 10 people in a tower block fire have been blamed on lockdown rules.

Many internet users surmised residents could not escape in time because the building was partially locked down — a claim city officials denied.

In Shanghai, China’s most populous city and financial hub, residents gathered at Wulumuqi Road — which borrows its name from Urumqi — for a vigil that turned into a protest.

“Lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!” crowds shouted, according to a video circulated on social media.

At one point a large group began shouting, “Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping, free Urumqi!”, according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the Chinese leadership.

A large group of police looked on and sometimes tried to break up the crowd.

Police officers block Wulumuqi street, named for Urumqi in Mandarin, in Shanghai. Photo: Getty

China is battling a surge in infections that has prompted lockdowns and other restrictions in cities across the country as Beijing adheres to a zero-COVID policy even as much of the world tries to coexist with the virus.

China defends the zero-COVID policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the healthcare system.

Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world’s second-biggest economy.

Videos from Shanghai widely shared on Chinese social media showed crowds facing dozens of police and calling out chants including “serve the people”, “we don’t want health codes” and “we want freedom”.

Protesters were bundled into police vehicles. Photo: Getty

Some social media users posted screenshots of street signs for Wulumuqi Road, both to evade censors and show support for protesters in Shanghai.

Others shared comments or posts calling for all of “you brave young people” to be careful.

Many included advice on what to do if police came or started arresting people during a protest or vigil.

Shanghai’s 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, an ordeal that provoked anger and protest.

Chinese authorities have since sought to be more targeted in their COVID curbs, but that effort has been challenged by a surge in infections as China faces its first winter with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

While low by global standards, China’s case numbers have hit record highs for days, with almost 40,000 new infections reported by health authorities on Sunday for the previous day.

Some residents under lockdown in Beijing staged small protests or confronted local officials on Saturday over movement restrictions, with some successfully pressuring them into lifting the curbs ahead of schedule.

A video shared with Reuters showed Beijing residents in an unidentifiable part of the capital marching around an open-air car park on Saturday, shouting “end the lockdown”.

Why China's COVID protesters hold up blank paper
The rare protests in Chinese cities and universities over its ongoing COVID lockdowns are continuing to boil. The protesters are also turning to an unusual symbol of defiance to evade authorities: blank sheets of white paper.

Videos Show CCP Forces Violently Crackdown on China Protests Against Xi

BY ANDREW STANTON 11/27/22 NEWSWEEK

Protesters Clash With Security At Chinese iPhone Factory

Videos posted to social media show Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces violently crack down on protests against Chinese President Xi Jinping's COVID-19 lockdowns.

Massive protests erupted across China in recent days following an apartment fire in Urumqi, the capital of the northwestern Xinjiang region, that resulted in the deaths of 10 people. Protesters are demanding Xi's resignation in a rare rebuke against his leadership, just weeks after he secured a historic third term.

The apartment fire triggered the protests after video posted to Chinese social media showing rescue efforts led some people to believe Xi's restrictive COVID-19 rules slowed the evacuation, resulting in unnecessary deaths.

Chinese authorities, however, maintained people inside the high-rise were able to go downstairs and escape the building, but their defense has done little to quell discontent among citizens, who still believe the zero-COVID policy prevented residents from fleeing the blaze.

BLANK PAPER PROTEST

Above, protesters march along a street in Beijing on November 28.

NOEL CELIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

China implemented the policy to prevent widespread infection within its borders. Nearly three years after the first COVID-19 case was discovered in Wuhan, the CCP says its restrictions prevented a global economic downturn and millions of virus-fueled deaths.

Chinese protesters, however, are illustrating the growing discontent with the rules despite recent clashes with CCP police. Videos emerged on social media on Sunday showing authorities crack down on protesters, with scenes at times turning violent.

"Peaceful Anti Chinese Communist Party Government protests in Shanghai for the second day in a row," tweeted @_Inty_, a Twitter account that frequently tweets about Chinese current affairs. "The CCP began to violently crackdown the Chinese protesters."

NPR journalist Rob Schmitz tweeted a video showing police clearing protesters from the streets of Shanghai.

"It'll be interesting to see how the Chinese government responds in the coming days to crowds of Chinese calling for Xi Jinping and the CCP to step down," he tweeted.

Shows of political defiance are rare in China. Although authorities say they allow free expression, human rights experts have long raised concerns that the CCP stifles dissent among its citizens.

Human Rights Watch researcher Yaqiu Wang tweeted Saturday that the protests are "painful to watch, knowing what is going to happen to those who chanted and knowing the level of control the CCP has over the Chinese society."

Wang's tweet was in response to a video that showed protesters chant, "Down with the party! Down with Xi Jinping!" Other videos posted to Twitter depicted the protesters shouting "End the lockdown."

Xi Under Pressure

Before the protests began, Xi was already facing some political strife after thousands of employees resigned from Foxconn's flagship factory in central China where iPhones are produced.

Workers clashed with riot police, who were wearing hazmat suits, over living conditions inside a strict COVID-19 bubble. Videos showed hundreds of workers storm out of their dormitory building where they were met with a police response.

The protests are the most direct challenge yet to the zero-COVID policy. China has maintained that it has had few infections—and fewer deaths—in the past two years. However, the protests also come as cases are rising throughout the country. From October 26 to November 26, cases increased more than 490 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Xi also continues facing a strained relationship with other global super powers. He has become perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin's most powerful global ally amid the otherwise-condemned invasion of Ukraine, and tensions with Taiwan have strained in recent months as island leaders rebuke Chinese leadership.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese government for comment.

Protests Across China As Anger Mounts Over Zero-Covid Policy

By Michael Zhang and Matthew Walsh
11/27/22 AT 2:00 AM

Angry crowds take to the streets in Shanghai as public opposition to China's zero-Covid policy grows

Angry crowds took to the streets in Shanghai early on Sunday, and videos on social media showed protests in other cities across China, as public opposition to the government's hardline zero-Covid policy mounts.

A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, has spurred an outpouring of anger as many social media users blamed lengthy Covid lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts.

China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid strategy, with authorities wielding snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing to snuff out new outbreaks as they emerge.

In a video widely shared on social media and geolocated by AFP, some protesters can be heard chanting "Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!" in central Shanghai's Wulumuqi street -- named for Urumqi in Mandarin -- in a rare display of public opposition to China's top leadership.

A person who attended the Shanghai protests but asked not to be identified told AFP they arrived at the rally at 2:00 am (1800 GMT) to see one group of people putting flowers on the sidewalk to mourn the 10 people killed in the fire, while another group chanted slogans.

Video taken by an eyewitness showed a large crowd shouting and holding up blank white pieces of paper -- a symbolic protest against censorship -- as they faced several lines of police.

The attendee said there were minor clashes but that overall the police were "civilised".

"It's touching to see so many like-minded and humane people uniting together," they said.

"It's shocking to know that, under today's circumstances, there are still many brave people standing out."

Multiple witnesses said a couple of people were taken away by the police.

Authorities were swift to curb online discussion of the protest, with related phrases scrubbed from the Twitter-like Weibo platform almost immediately after footage of the rallies emerged.

The area was quiet by daytime Sunday but a heavy security presence was visible.

An AFP journalist saw some people holding flowers being approached by police before leaving.

Other vigils took place overnight at universities across China, including one at the elite Peking University, an undergraduate participant told AFP.

Speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions, he said some anti-Covid slogans had been graffitied on a wall in the university, with some words echoing those written on a banner that was hung over a Beijing bridge just before the Communist Party Congress in October.

People had started gathering from around midnight local time, but he hadn't dared join initially.

"When I arrived (two hours later), I think there were at least 100 people there, maybe 200," he said.

"At first, they sang the 'Internationale'. Later, some students started shouting slogans, but the reaction wasn't particularly loud. People weren't really sure what they should shout. But I heard people yelling: 'No to Covid tests, yes to freedom!'"

Photos and videos he showed AFP corroborated his account.

The students were communicating with security guards and teachers, he said, but it is unclear if they faced punishment for taking part.

The graffiti had already been covered up when he arrived.

Videos on social media also showed a mass vigil at Nanjing Institute of Communications, with people holding lights and white sheets of paper.

Hashtags relating to the protest were censored on Weibo, and video platforms Duoyin and Kuaishou were scrubbed of any videos.

Videos from Xi'an, Guangzhou and Wuhan also spread on social media, showing similar small protests. AFP was unable to verify the footage independently.

China reported 39,506 domestic Covid cases Sunday, a record high but small compared to caseloads in the West at the height of the pandemic.

The protests come against a backdrop of mounting public frustration over China's zero-tolerance approach to the virus and follow sporadic rallies in other cities recently.

A number of high-profile cases in which emergency services have been allegedly slowed down by Covid lockdowns, leading to deaths, have catalysed public opposition.

Following the deadly Urumqi fire, hundreds of people massed outside the city's government offices, chanting: "Lift lockdowns!", footage partially verified by AFP shows.

In another clip, dozens of people are seen marching through a neighbourhood in the east of the city, shouting the same slogan before facing off with a line of hazmat-clad officials and angrily rebuking security personnel.

AFP was able to verify the videos by geolocating local landmarks but was unable to specify exactly when the protests occurred.

Urumqi officials said on Saturday the city "had basically reduced social transmissions to zero" and would "restore the normal order of life for residents in low-risk areas in a staged and orderly manner".

Protests in Shanghai and Beijing as anger over China's COVID curbs mounts

Story by By Casey Hall, Josh Horwitz and Martin Quin Pollard • 5h ago

Protest against COVID-19 curbs at Tsinghua University in Beijing© Thomson Reuters

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -Crowds of demonstrators in Shanghai shouted and held up blank sheets of papers early on Sunday evening, as protests flared in China against heavy COVID-19 curbs following a deadly fire in the country's far west sparked widespread anger.

The wave of civil disobedience, which has included protests in cities including Beijing and Urumqi, where the fire occurred, is unprecedented in mainland China since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

In Shanghai, China's most populous city, residents had gathered on Saturday night at Wulumuqi Road - which is named after Urumqi - for a candlelight vigil that turned into a protest in the early hours of Sunday.

As a large group of police looked on, the crowd held up blank sheets of paper as a protest symbol against censorship. Later on, they shouted, "lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!", according to a video circulated on social media.

Protest in Shanghai© Thomson Reuters

Later, a large group chanted "Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping", according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the country's leadership.

Reuters could not independently verify the footage.

Later on Sunday, police kept a heavy presence on Wulumuqi Road and cordoned off surrounding streets, making an arrest that triggered protests from onlookers, according to unverified videos seen by Reuters.

By evening, hundreds of people had gathered again near one of the cordons, some holding blank sheets of paper.

"I am here because of the fire accident in Urumqi. I am here for freedom. Winter is coming. We need our freedom," one protestor told Reuters.

At Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, dozens of people held a peaceful protest against COVID restrictions during which they sang the national anthem, according to images and videos posted on social media.

Police officers stand next to cordon in Shanghai© Thomson Reuters

In one video, which Reuters was unable to verify, a Tsinghua university student called on a cheering crowd to speak out. "If we don’t dare to speak out because we are scared of being smeared, our people will be disappointed in us. As a Tsinghua university student, I will regret it for all my life."

One student who saw the Tsinghua protest described to Reuters feeling taken aback by the protest at one China's most elite universities, and Xi's alma mater.

"People there were very passionate, the sight of it was impressive," the student said, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.

Related video: China Protests Lockdowns | 'Down With Xi' Protests Across China | China Covid 2022 News | News18

Duration 2:37

View on Watch

Thursday's fire that killed 10 people in a high-rise building in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, saw crowds there take to the street on Friday evening, chanting "End the lockdown!" and pumping their fists in the air, according to unverified videos on social media.

Many internet users believe that residents were not able to escape in time because the building was partially locked down, which city officials denied. In Urumqi, a city of 4 million, some people have been locked down for as long as 100 days.

ZERO-COVID

China has stuck with Xi's signature zero-COVID policy even as much of the world has lifted most restrictions. While low by global standards, China's cases have hit record highs for days, with nearly 40,000 new infections on Saturday.

China defends the policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the healthcare system. Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting economic toll.

China's economy suffered a broad slowdown in October as factory output grew more slowly than expected and retail sales fell for the first time in five months, underscoring faltering demand at home and abroad.

Adding to a raft of weak data in recent days, China reported on Sunday that industrial firms saw overall profits fall further in the January-October period, with 22 of China's 41 major industrial sectors showing a decline.

The world's second-largest economy is also facing other headwinds including a global recession risks and a property downturn.

Widespread public protest is extremely rare in China, where room for dissent has been all but eliminated under Xi, forcing citizens mostly to vent on social media, where they play cat-and-mouse with censors.

Frustration is boiling just over a month after Xi secured a third term at the helm of China's Communist Party.

"This will put serious pressure on the party to respond. There is a good chance that one response will be repression, and they will arrest and prosecute some protesters," said Dan Mattingly, assistant professor of political science at Yale University.

Protest in Shanghai© Thomson Reuters

Still, he said, the unrest is far from that seen in 1989, when protests culminated in the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square. He added that as long as Xi had China's elite and the military on his side, he would not face any meaningful risk to his hold on power.

An epidemic prevention worker in a protective suit sleeps in a chair outside a locked-down residential compound as outbreaks of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue in Beijing© Thomson Reuters

This weekend, Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Ma Xingrui called for the region to step up security maintenance and curb the "illegal violent rejection of COVID-prevention measures".

Xinjiang officials have also said public transport services will gradually resume from Monday in Urumqi.

'WE DON'T WANT HEALTH CODES'

Other cities that have seen public dissent include Lanzhou in the northwest where residents on Saturday upturned COVID staff tents and smashed testing booths, posts on social media showed. Protesters said they were put under lockdown even though no one had tested positive.

Candlelight vigils for the Urumqi victims took place at universities in cities such as Nanjing and Beijing.

Shanghai's 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, provoking anger and protests.

Chinese authorities have since then sought to be more targeted in their COVID curbs, an effort that has been challenged by the surge in infections as the country faces its first winter with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Yew Lun Tian, Eduardo Baptista and Liz Lee in Beijing and by Brenda Goh, Josh Horwitz, David Stanway, Casey Hall and Engen Tham in Shanghai and the Shanghai Newsroom; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by William Mallard, Kim Coghill, Edwina Gibbs and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Shanghai hit by protests as anger at zero-COVID and Urumqi fire spreads across China

(Reuters: Gao Ming)

Protests against China's heavy COVID-19 curbs have spread to more cities, including financial hub Shanghai, with a fresh wave of anger sparked by a deadly fire in the country's far west.

Key points:

Protests erupted in multiple cities in China in response to strict COVID curbs

Candlelight vigils for the Urumqi victims took place in various Chinese universities

Officials have vowed to continue with COVID-zero policy despite the growing public pushback

The fire on Thursday that killed 10 people in a high-rise building in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region, sparked widespread public anger, with many internet users suggesting residents could not escape because the building was partially locked down, which city officials denied.

The fire has fuelled a wave of civil disobedience unprecedented in mainland China since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

In Shanghai, China's most populous city, residents gathered on Saturday night at Wulumuqi Road — named after Urumqi — for a candlelit vigil which turned into a protest in the early hours of Sunday.

As a large group of police looked on, the crowd held up blank sheets of paper, a protest symbol against censorship.

Later on, they shouted, "lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!", according to social media footage.

At another point, a large group began shouting, "Down with the Chinese Communist Party, down with Xi Jinping", according to witnesses and videos, in a rare public protest against the Chinese leadership.

Later on Sunday, police kept a heavy presence on Wulumuqi Road and cordoned off surrounding streets, making an arrest that triggered protests from onlookers, according to unverified videos seen by Reuters.

Urumqi tragedy sparks nationwide anger

Candlelit vigils for the Urumqi victims took place in universities in cities such as Nanjing and Beijing, with students staging silent protests by holding up blank sheets of paper.

At Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, dozens of people held a peaceful protest against COVID restrictions during which they sang the national anthem, according to images and videos posted on social media.

In one video, which Reuters was unable to verify, a Tsinghua university student called on a cheering crowd to speak out.

"If we don't dare to speak out because we are scared of being smeared, our people will be disappointed in us," he said.

"As a Tsinghua university student, I will regret it for all my life."

One student who saw the Tsinghua protest described to Reuters feeling taken aback by the protest at one China's most elite universities, and Mr Xi's alma mater.

"People there were very passionate, the sight of it was impressive," the student said, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.

Internet users showed solidarity by posting blank white squares on their WeChat timelines or on Weibo.

By Sunday morning, the hashtag "white paper exercise" had been blocked on Weibo.

Videos from Shanghai showed crowds facing dozens of police and calling out chants including: "Serve the people", "We don't want health codes" and "We want freedom".

People chant slogans as they gather at the place where a candlelight vigil was held for the victims of the Urumqi fire in Shanghai. (Reuters:)

Strict lockdowns rules called to question

On Friday night, crowds took to the streets of Urumqi, chanting "End the lockdown!" and pumping their fists in the air after the deadly fire, according to videos circulated on Chinese social media.

Protests erupt in Xinjiang, Beijing after deadly fire

Crowds took to the streets in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi, chanting "End the lockdown!" after a deadly fire on Thursday triggered anger over their prolonged COVID-19 lockdown.

Read more

Many of Urumqi's 4 million residents have been under some of the country's longest lockdowns, barred from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days.

In Beijing, 2,700 km away, some residents under lockdown staged small protests or confronted local officials on Saturday over movement restrictions, with some successfully pressuring them into lifting the curbs ahead of a schedule.

A video shared with Reuters showed Beijing residents in an unidentifiable part of the capital marching around an open-air car park on Saturday, shouting "End the lockdown!"

Other cities that have seen public dissent include Lanzhou in the north-west where residents on Saturday upturned COVID staff tents and smashed testing booths, posts on social media showed.

Protesters said they were put under lockdown even though no one had tested positive.

In the central city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began three years ago, hundreds of residents took to the streets on Sunday, smashing through metal barricades, overturning COVID testing tents and demanding an end to lockdowns, according to videos on social media that could not be independently verified.

Shanghai's 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, an ordeal that provoked anger and protest.

Chinese authorities have since then sought to be more targeted in their COVID curbs, but that effort has been challenged by a surge in infections as China faces its first winter with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Lockdowns triggered by COVID surge

China is battling a surge in infections that has prompted lockdowns and other restrictions in cities across the country, as the government adheres to a zero-COVID policy even while much of the world tries to coexist with the coronavirus.

While low by global standards, China's case numbers have hit record highs for days, with nearly 40,000 new infections reported by health authorities on Sunday for the previous day.

China defends Mr Xi's signature zero-COVID policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent the healthcare system being overwhelmed.

Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world's second-biggest economy.

WATCH
Duration: 7 minutes 35 seconds

China stands firm on COVID restrictions despite frustrating citizens

Protests and defiance are rare

Widespread public protest is extremely rare in China, where room for dissent has been all but eliminated under Mr Xi, forcing people mostly to vent on social media, where they play cat-and-mouse with censors.

Frustration is boiling just over a month after Mr Xi secured a third term at the helm of China's Communist Party.

"This will put serious pressure on the party to respond," said Dan Mattingly, assistant professor of political science at Yale University.

"There is a good chance that one response will be repression, and they will arrest and prosecute some protesters."

Still, he said, the unrest is far from that seen in 1989, when protests culminated in the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square.

He added that as long as Mr Xi had China's elite and the military on his side, he would not face any meaningful risk to his hold on power.

Reuters

Protests in Shanghai as anger mounts over China’s zero-Covid policy

Some protesters could be heard chanting “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” in a rare display of public opposition to the country’s top leadership.

by Michael Zhang and Matthew Walsh

Angry crowds took to the streets of Shanghai early Sunday calling for an end to lockdowns, as China grapples with mounting public protests against its zero-Covid policy.

A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, spurred an outpouring of anger as many social media users blamed lengthy Covid lockdowns in the city for hampering rescue efforts.

Shanghai. Photo: Vivian Wu screenshot via Twitter.

In Shanghai’s central Wulumuqi street, named for Urumqi in Mandarin, in a video widely shared on social media and geolocated by AFP, some protesters can be heard chanting “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” in a rare display of public opposition to the country’s top leadership.

Video taken by an eyewitness on Sunday showed people gathering in central Shanghai to mourn the 10 victims killed in the Urumqi fire.

Other vigils took place at universities across the country, according to posts widely circulating on social media.

A person who attended the Shanghai protests but asked not to be named told AFP they arrived at the rally at 2:00 am to see that “a group of people was mourning and sending flowers on the sidewalk, another group of people was chanting slogans”.

“There were minor clashes but in all, civilised law enforcement,” they added.

“At last a couple of people were taken away by the police for unknown reasons.”

Authorities were swift to curb online discussion of the protest, with phrases related to the visit scrubbed from the Twitter-like Weibo platform almost immediately after footage of the rallies emerged.

The protests come against a backdrop of mounting public frustration over the Chinese government’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid and follow sporadic rallies in other cities.
Lockdowns and mass testing

China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid strategy, with authorities wielding snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing to snuff out new outbreaks as they emerge.

Shanghai, a city of more than 25 million people, endured a gruelling two-month lockdown earlier this year that saw widespread food shortages.

A number of high-profile cases in which emergency services have been allegedly slowed down by Covid lockdowns, leading to deaths, have catalysed public opposition to the measures.

“I’m also the one throwing myself off the roof, trapped in an overturned (quarantine) bus, breaking out of isolation at the Foxconn factory,” read one recent viral comment referencing several recent incidents blamed on zero-Covid strictures.

Following the deadly Urumqi fire, hundreds of people massed outside the city’s government offices, chanting: “Lift lockdowns!”, footage partially verified by AFP shows.

Photo: Douyin screenshot.

In another clip, dozens of people are seen marching through a neighbourhood in the east of the city, shouting the same slogan before facing off with a line of hazmat-clad officials and angrily rebuking security personnel.

AFP was able to verify the videos by geolocating local landmarks, but were unable to specify when exactly the protests occurred.

In the wake of the protests, officials on Saturday said the city “had basically reduced social transmissions to zero” and would “restore the normal order of life for residents in low-risk areas in a staged and orderly manner”.
University vigils

Other vigils took place overnight at universities across China, including one at the elite Peking University, an undergraduate participant told AFP.

Speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions, he said some anti-Covid slogans had been graffitied on a wall in the university, with some words echoing those written on a banner that was hung over a Beijing bridge just before the Communist Party Congress in October.

People had started gathering from around midnight local time, but he hadn’t dared join initially.

“When I arrived (two hours later), I think there were at least 100 people there, maybe 200,” he said.

“At first, they sang the ‘Internationale’. Later, some students started shouting slogans, but the reaction wasn’t particularly loud. People weren’t really sure what they should shout. But I heard people yelling: ‘No to Covid tests, yes to freedom!'”

Photos and videos he showed AFP corroborated his account.

The students were communicating with security guards and teachers, he said, but it is unclear if they faced punishment for taking part.

The graffiti had already been covered up when he arrived.

Videos on social media also showed a mass vigil at Nanjing Institute of Communications, with people holding lights and white sheets of paper.

Hashtags relating to the protest were censored on Weibo, and video platforms Duoyin and Kuaishou were scrubbed of any videos.

Videos from Xi’an, Guangzhou and Wuhan also spread on social media, showing similar small protests. AFP was unable to verify the footage independently.

China reported 39,506 domestic Covid cases Sunday — a record high but comparatively small compared to caseloads in the West at the height of the pandemic.