Students sent home and police on patrol as China curbs Covid protests

Chinese security personnel walk past a junction near the site of protest the day before in Beijing, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Chinese authorities eased some anti-virus rules but affirmed their severe “zero COVID” strategy Monday after protesters demanded President Xi Jinping resign in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chinese universities have sent students home and police fanned out in Beijing and Shanghai to prevent more protests after crowds angered by anti-Covid restrictions called for President Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades.

Authorities have eased some controls after demonstrations in at least eight mainland cities and Hong Kong — but showed no sign of backing off their larger zero-Covid strategy which has confined millions of people to their homes for months at a time.