北京、コロナデモ再燃回避 市民は抗議を支持

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国・北京では２８日、新型コロナウイルス対策のロックダウン（都市封鎖）措置に反対する抗議集会が前日に続き呼び掛けられていたが、警察の巡回や悪天候によって阻まれたもようだ。（写真は資料写真）
　北京では２７日夜、２０～３０代を中心とした数百人が運河・亮馬河沿いで異例のデモを実行。多くの参加者が、当局の検閲に対する抗議として白い紙を持ち、国民の移動を約３年間にわたり制限している厳格なコロナ対策への反対を訴えた。
　現地のＡＦＰ記者によると、２８日夜にはこうした集会は行われなかったもようだが、多くの通行人が抗議デモへの支持を表明した。
　匿名で取材に応じた４０歳の男性は、声を潜めながら「ようやくコロナ対策に反対する動きが出てきた」と語った。「若者たちは不安を抱いている。住宅価格はほぼ手が届かない水準にあり、仕事も見つかるかどうか分からない。この対策は、中国にふたをしているようなものだ。世界の笑いものになっている」

■「私は支持する」

　近くの川沿いでは同日、小規模な警官隊が両岸を約５分おきに巡回。隣接する道路にも警官が立っていた。周辺には多数の警察車両が駐車。中にはカメラを装備したものもあり、集会はほぼ不可能な状態だった。
　強風と極寒の中、川の眺めを楽しむために訪れた３０歳の女性は「きのうの若者たちの行動には心を動かされた。自分たちの権利を守ろうとしている。私は支持する」と語った。
　少し離れたところでジョギングをしていた若い女性は、前日の出来事をソーシャルメディアで追っていたと言い、「良いことだ。人々が過剰な規制にうんざりしていることを示してくれた」と話した。「声は政府に届いたと思う。対策の緩和につながるのではないか」
　前述の４０歳の男性は、この女性と同じ期待を抱きつつも、「指導者らは外遊でマスクをしていないのに、なぜ私たちは今もマスクをする必要があるのか。 理解できない」と憤った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/11/29-13:00）

With police cars, foot patrols, a network of surveillance cameras, and aided by the icy wind, Beijing authorities appeared Monday to have deterred fresh anti-lockdown gatherings -- at least for the time being.
Sunday night saw hundreds of people, mainly in their 20s and 30s, rally in a rare protest in a well-to-do tree-lined area on a bank of the river Liangma.
Many held blank white sheets of paper in a symbolic protest against censorship and chanted slogans opposing the strict health restrictions that have prevented them from moving freely for almost three years.
No such rally appeared to have taken place the following night, an AFP journalist saw, though many passersby expressed defiant support for the protests that have rocked China over the last few days.
I followed this on social media and I wanted to come and see. Finally, there is a movement against this health policy, a 40-year-old man who asked to remain anonymous told AFP, keeping his voice low.
Today young people are worried. The price of housing has become almost inaccessible, they do not know if they will find a job, he said.
This health policy is like putting a lid on China. We're becoming the laughingstock of the world, aren't we?
- 'I support them' -
Police patrolled nearby on both banks of the river in small groups every five minutes or so, standing out in their navy blue uniforms. Others were posted to adjacent streets.
Twenty cars and police vans were parked nearby, some equipped with cameras, making any gathering almost impossible.
I am touched by what these young people did yesterday. They are defending their rights, I support them, explained a 30-year-old enjoying the river, despite the gusts and frigid temperatures.
I think they were inspired by the October event, she said, referring to a rare protest just days ahead of a key Communist Party meeting when banners criticising lockdowns and Xi Jinping were draped over a bridge in Beijing.
She, too, has reason to be upset.
My passport expired two years ago and the authorities refuse to renew it because of health restrictions. We can't even go abroad, she told AFP.
Chinese authorities have paused issuing new passports to their nationals, with a few exceptions such as seeing close family, continuing their studies or being sent by their employer abroad.
- 'It's incomprehensible!' -
A little further on, a young woman who came to jog said she had followed the events of the previous day on social media.
It's good. It sent a signal that people were tired of overly tough restrictions, she said.
I think the government has heard the message and is going to relax the policy to give them and everyone else a way out.
This is also what the 40-year-old hoped, he told AFP.
We see our leaders going abroad and not wearing a mask. So why do we still have to wear one here? It's incomprehensible! he said.
Other politically sensitive places in Beijing, such as Tiananmen Square -- the focal point of a major protest in 1989 that was later brutally crushed -- were deserted on Monday.
On the outskirts of the area, police imposed identity checks -- even on passing cyclists, a rare sign of heightened security around an already heavily-securitised area.
Another demonstration planned for the evening in the capital near the bridge where the banner was displayed in October, also reportedly did not take place again due to a strong police presence.