University Covid lockdown eased in Chinese capital after student protests

A woman shows a security guard proof for entry near the words Peking University at one of the entrance to the main campus of Peking University (Ng Han Guan/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, according to students.

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, while allowing faculty to come and go freely.