Photo: Reuters

Chinese authorities have begun inquiries into some of the people who gathered at weekend protests against COVID-19 curbs, people who were at the Beijing demonstrations told Reuters, as police remained out in numbers on the city's streets.

Iran PressAsia: It was not clear how authorities identified the people they wanted to question about their participation in the protests, and it was also not clear how many such people the authorities aimed to question.

Beijing's Public Security Bureau did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said rights and freedoms must be exercised within the framework of the law.

Simmering discontent with stringent COVID prevention policies three years into the pandemic ignited into protests in cities thousands of miles apart over the weekend.

The number of COVID cases hit record daily highs and large parts of several cities face new lockdowns.

COVID has spread despite China largely isolating itself from the world and demanding significant sacrifices from its population to comply with frequent testing and prolonged isolation.

The spark for the protests was a fire last week in the western city of Urumqi that authorities said killed 10 people.

Some internet users said COVID lockdown measures hampered the effort to rescue people in the burning building. Officials have denied that.

Officials say the COVID policy has kept the death toll in the thousands, avoiding the millions of deaths elsewhere. 

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Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters