Taiwan called on China to let the country "return to normal" in the wake of widespread protests over their zero-COVID policy.
RELATED: Protesters in China take to the streets over COVID lockdown policy
The Biden administration offered support Monday for peaceful protesters in China who spilled into the streets over the weekend to demonstrate against Beijing’s “zero COVID” strategy for containing the deadly pandemic.
Public anger and isolated protests over Chinese President Xi Jinping's COVID-19 policies have been building for months amid stories circulating online and in social media of cases when, because of citywide lockdowns, people have died for lack of medical care and pregnant women have miscarried babies. Shortages of food also have been highlighted.
When a fire broke out in a residential apartment building on Nov. 24 in the city of Urumqi, killing 10 people, local authorities denied that the deaths had anything to do with a severe 100-day lockdown in Urumqi. But many Chinese social media users blamed Beijing's pandemic policies, and demonstrations in Urumqi spread to cities across China including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Wuhan.
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