![[One-sentence description of what this media is: "A photo of a vaccine site on USC campus" or "Gif of dancing banana". Important for accessibility/people who use screen readers.]](https://uscannenberg-uscannenberg-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/JPQYQHUHKFABDKHU54QMOQWCCM.jpg?smart=true&auth=eb8ffe570136634f4e6fe51c17bec3587922396a34f2e8c6fd49cada2527cd3f&width=4032&height=2268)
USC students, including many international students from China, gathered near campus Tuesday night to mourn victims of the tragic Xinjiang fire that happened on Thanksgiving.
Students, joined by others from the community, waved posters and chanted “liberty or death,” “CCP step down” and “We need to beat down authoritarianism” at the vigil, held near the campus’ entrance at Jefferson and Hoover.
Students at the rally declined to reveal their identities for fear of retribution against themselves or their families.
“People in my family are unhappy with it but don’t say anything about it because they are facing a strong, tyrannical government,” a student protester said, regarding the “Zero COVID” policy.
China, set strict restrictions and regulations when the virus began to spread rapidly three years ago in its initial “Zero COVID” policy. Since then, other countries ended quarantines and utilized other solutions to combat the virus while China has not loosened its policies.
According to Voice of America, the “Zero COVID” policy consists of extensive testing, quarantining in government facilities and imposing stern lockdowns.
Ten people died, and nine were hospitalized after rescue workers failed to reach the site of a fire at a high-rise building in downtown Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, according to CNN. Videos shared on social media showed that due to COVID barriers put into place, responding fire trucks could not get close enough to the building.
“They are blaming the residents of the building, saying there is no lockdown and you can leave the building as you want, but that is a lie, we know that is a lie,” a student protestor said.
These videos, which are now censored in China, sparked anger not only among USC students, but also the residents of China and people around the world.
“The tragedy of the building fire was the culmination of frustrations for the public given the past three years of severe policies that they have been subjected to,” a student protestor said.
In response to the videos, protests erupted against the government’s lockdown measures across the country in cities like Beijing, Hotan and Wuhan.