Students protest hard lockdown in Shanghai

According to various media, students attending Shanghai’s Fudan University are protesting the restrictions imposed as part of the local lockdown. The protests started in response to the installation of security cameras in the bathrooms of student dormitories. According to the university, the cameras are intended to check whether students are complying with the strict rules. They are required to wear face masks and stay in their rooms as much as possible.

It should be noted that Fudan University has denied the stories about rebellious students, saying they are just ‘rumours’. According to the university, its students did not clash with the police at all. On the contrary, the university said – they are trying very hard to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Fudan University is not the only education institution to have experienced unrest. Other universities have, too. Since delivery services are not allowed to enter campuses, lecturers and support staff are delivering food and other things that are needed. There is a dearth of certain products. For instance, students have been complaining about a lack of sanitary pads.

Students’ discontent could even be heard in a poetry contest for students attending another Shanghai university, Jiaotong University. The most ‘subversive’ poems have been censored, but according to The Washington Post, they are doing the rounds on the internet: poems about lockdowns and the coronavirus, but also about trafficking in women, poverty and other types of problems.

Due to the pandemic, there are fewer international students than usual in China, but those who are currently in China are having a hard time leaving. For instance, South Korean students, who make up the largest group of international students in China, are having difficulty going home, even though restrictions are actually being lifted there.