"Xi Jinping Step Down" ... Solidarity Rally at Harvard University

White Paper Protests Spread in China... Calls for Xi Jinping's Resignation Reach Harvard
Similar Protests at Columbia University on the 28th... Plans at Other U.S. Universities Too

On the 29th (local time), an anti-China 'Zero COVID' protest was held at Harvard University in Massachusetts, USA. A man is covering the eyes of the statue of John Harvard, the university's founder, by putting a mask on it. Photo by AP·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Culture Reporter Young In] A solidarity rally supporting protests demanding Xi Jinping's resignation in China was held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

According to the US AP News on the 29th (local time), about 50 people participated in the rally, most of whom were Chinese international students at Harvard. They gathered in front of the university landmark, the 'John Harvard Statue,' to hold a solidarity rally supporting anti-lockdown and anti-government protests. Participants sang songs in Chinese and English and shouted slogans such as "We are citizens, not slaves!", "We want elections, not dictatorship!", and "Step down, Xi Jinping."

They also commemorated the 10 victims who died in an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, on the 24th. This apartment fire raised suspicions that the high-intensity COVID lockdown policies by Chinese authorities delayed firefighting efforts, resulting in many casualties, which triggered anti-'Zero COVID' policy protests across China.

Many participants wore masks due to concerns that if their identities were exposed to Chinese authorities, their families in China might face retaliation. Additionally, some covered their faces with blank sheets, wore sunglasses, or hid their faces with hoods or hats.

Prior to this, a similar protest was held on the 28th at Columbia University in New York, and solidarity rallies are planned at other US universities. In China, protests against excessive lockdown policies are taking place in eight major mainland cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This is considered the largest anti-government protest movement in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident.