Students protest, discontent grows over China’s COVID policy

By KEN MORITSUGU and DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Administrators at an elite Beijing university have backed down from plans to further tighten pandemic restrictions on students as part of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy after a weekend protest at the school. Graduate students at Peking University staged the rare, but peaceful protest Sunday over the school’s decision to erect a sheet-metal wall to keep them further sequestered on campus. A citywide lockdown in Shanghai and expanded restrictions in Beijing in recent weeks have raised questions about the economic and human costs of China’s strict virus controls. The ruling Communist Party has trumpeted its approach as a success compared to other major nations with much higher death tolls.