China protests: Tensions in Shanghai remains 'very, very high' as mass groups disperse

China protests: Tensions in Shanghai remains ‘very, very high’ as mass groups disperse

It’s been a really, really interesting day here.

When we woke up this morning, in the wake of those big protests we saw last night, the tension in Shanghai was very, very high indeed.

At the crossroads we went in as a team, it was almost impossible to lift up a phone or a camera without police being immediately on us.

We saw people being arrested simply, it seemed, for lingering just a little too long.

There were a lot of barricades along those key roads and it felt extremely tense.

It’s still tense at the crossroads; it’s certainly not safe to broadcast live from there and there’s still a heavy police presence.

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But, interestingly, there is a sense that there is a slight sigh of relief from authorities, because it seems there have not been mass big groups of people gathering like many thought there would be.

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And because there haven’t been those gatherings, the police have slightly stepped back.

But there were small, defiant acts of protest.

There’s a sense that people got the message from earlier today that any gathering tonight would be swiftly and heavily cracked down on.

It could be because it’s Monday, and people could have gone to work or college.

There’s a sense that people are taking a breath, taking stock and there were lots of arrests yesterday.

People are still deeply weary about the zero-COVID restrictions here in China.

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