Chinese university students sent home as Beijing quashes Covid protests: Updates

Covid Protests In China: With police out in force, there was no word of protests on Tuesday in Beijing, Shanghai or other major cities.

Chinese universities are sending students home as the ruling Communist Party tightens anti-Covid controls and tries to prevent more protests, Associated Press reported. This comes after crowds angered by China's severe “zero Covid” restrictions called for president Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades.

Covid Protests In China: A demonstrator is forced into a police car by the police, during a protest on a street in Shanghai, China.

Here are top updates on Covid protests in China:

1. With police out in force, there was no word of protests on Tuesday in Beijing, Shanghai or other major cities.

2. Some anti-virus restrictions were eased in a possible effort to defuse public anger following the weekend protests in at least eight cities.

3. Chinese universities are sending students to their hometowns to reduce protests, AP reported.

4. Some universities arranged buses to take students to train stations. They said classes and final exams would be conducted online.

5. Authorities have ordered mass testing and imposed other controls in areas across China following a spike in infections.

6. In Hong Kong, about 50 students from mainland China protested at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in a show of support for people on the mainland.

7. The Chinese Communist Party promised last month to reduce disruption by changing quarantine and other rules.

8. On Monday, the city government of Beijing announced it would no longer set up gates to block access to apartment compounds where infections are found.