The secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Committee, Chen Wenqing, has called for «energetic measures» to be taken against demonstrators who have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the strict ‘Covid Zero’ policy.
«We must crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces in accordance with the law,» said the also Chinese Politburo member, as reported by Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Wenqing demanded that «energetic measures be taken against illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order and effectively maintain overall social stability», in reference to the protests that have broken out in the country in recent days.
The Central Political and Legal Committee is in charge of organizing, within the line of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the various state security forces, including the Police. The committee is headed by a secretary who is usually also a member of the Politburo.
The protests in different parts of China, such as Beijing, Wuhan or Shanghai, were triggered by the fire in the city of Urumqi, in the western region of Xinjiang, where at least ten people died, allegedly due to the slow response of firefighters due to restrictions against the coronavirus.
As a result, the Chinese authorities have activated a large deployment of police in different cities of the country to prevent new protests against the strict measures imposed by the Government within the framework of the ‘Covid Zero’ policy, as reported by DPA.
