Chinese Universities Closed; Police Out In Force
At least ten universities in Beijing and Shanghai have closed and sent students home after the recent demonstrations against China's strict COVID-19 policies. The protests, the largest in the country since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations, called for Chinese President Xi Jinping to resign and a change to China's Zero COVID policy. Dali Yang, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Chicago, said that the Chinese government is clearing the campuses, a traditional hotbed of dissent, in order to "defuse the situation." Meanwhile police have been seen out in force, questioning people and checking phones for illegal apps such as Twitter.