The United States said Monday that it is «closely» following the protests in China and supports the right of demonstrators to take to the streets «peacefully» in the context of the restrictions of the so-called ‘COVID Zero’ policy in the Asian giant.
«People should be allowed the right to peacefully assemble and protest against policies, laws, dictates that they disagree with,» said US National Security Council communications spokesman John Kirby, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Kirby also clarified that the U.S. does not see, for the moment, a «particular impact» on the supply chain after hundreds of workers at Apple’s main iPhone manufacturing plant in China clashed with security personnel a few days ago.
The protest at Foxconn Technology Group was sparked by workers’ demands for unpaid wages. The Chinese factory, which employs more than 200,000 workers, has been closed since October.
Protests in different parts of China, such as Beijing, Wuhan or Shanghai, broke out following the fire in the city of Urumqi, in the western region of Xinjiang, where at least 10 people died, allegedly due to the slow response of firefighters because of restrictions against the coronavirus.
