China sends students home amid calls for crackdown on protests

In an apparent effort to tackle anger at the zero-Covid policies that originally sparked the protests, authorities also announced plans to step up vaccination of older people.

Such a move is a vital precursor to loosening controls without mass deaths or overwhelming the health system in a country where there is almost no natural immunity to Covid, after nearly three years of trying to eliminate the virus.

The death of 10 people in a fire in Urumqi city was one of the triggers for the protests, amid claims they had been locked into their homes under Covid control rules.

Originally centred on calls to end harsh controls, the protests morphed into broader demands including for democracy, and for Xi to step down.

Before the crowds gathered, the demonstrations seemed unthinkable. Xi has ramped up surveillance, censorship and controls on civil society during his decade in power; just a month earlier, a banner hung by a solitary protester on a Beijing bridge made international headlines.

However, Chinese authorities have detailed plans to deal with any form of unrest, and security forces are already trying to identify and round up some who took part.

Two protesters told Reuters that callers identifying themselves as Beijing police officers asked them to report to a police station on Tuesday with written accounts of their activities on Sunday night. A student also said they were asked by their college if they had been in an area where a protest happened and to provide a written account.

Eyewitnesses reported police asking people for their phones to check if they had virtual private networks (VPNs) that can be used to access sites blocked in China including the Telegram app, a key communications channel for weekend protesters.

The low vaccination rate among older people is one of the major hurdles to easing the zero-Covid policy. They have been far more averse to vaccination than younger generations.

Some individuals who have refused vaccination would start having to explain why, officials said.

China has not yet approved mRNA vaccines, proven to be more effective, for public use. China logged 38,421 domestic infections on Tuesday, slightly down from record highs seen over the weekend and low when compared with caseloads seen in western countries during the height of the pandemic.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report