China’s top security agency has called for a crackdown on ‘hostile forces’ after rare protests against Covid rules in Chinese cities over the weekend.
Police flooded now-empty protest sites, with some protesters saying police had contacted them for information about their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, the country’s health officials say the shutdowns should be “imposed and eased quickly”.
China has recorded a record number of new cases in recent days.
It is the only major economy with a zero Covid policy, with local authorities cracking down on even small outbreaks with mass testing, quarantines and instant lockdowns.
Over the weekend, thousands of people in China took to the streets to demand an end to the strict measures – some even making rare calls for President Xi Jinping to step down.
But a heavy police presence in major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, appeared to have dampened further protests on Monday and Tuesday.
The ruling Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which oversees national law enforcement across China, said it was “necessary to crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces in accordance to the law”.
The statement, reported by Chinese news agency Xinhua, did not mention recent protests, which began after a fire at a high-rise building in western China’s Urumqi killed 10 people Thursday.
Many Chinese believe Covid restrictions in the city contributed to the deaths, although authorities deny this.
Police officers were seen on Tuesday patrolling in large numbers in parts of Beijing and Shanghai, where demonstrations were held at the weekend.
There were also reports of around 150 officers showing up at a busy shopping area in the southern city of Shenzhen after rumours of a planned protest circulated on social media.
Also, on Tuesday, Chinese health officials said the authorities would work to reduce the “inconvenience” caused by the Covid pandemic.
Mi Feng, the spokesperson of China’s National Health Commission (NHC), told reporters that lockdowns should be “imposed and eased quickly” and that “excessive control measures should be continuously rectified”.
Health officials earlier called for more targeted Covid measures – saying complaints over tough curbs were a result of the “arbitrary” local roll-outs, rather than national guidelines.
In southern Guangdong province, authorities announced changes to local Covid policy on Tuesday evening, allowing some close contacts of Covid cases to quarantine at home rather than in state facilities.