Shanghai lockdown: Residents demand release, and some get it

On a balmy Sunday night, residents of an upscale Shanghai compound took to the streets to decry lockdown restrictions imposed by their community.

By the following morning, they were free to leave.

The triumphant story quickly spread on chat groups across the Chinese city this week

sparking one question in the minds of those who remained under lockdown:

By the end of the week, other groups of residents had confronted management in their complexes, and some had won at least a partial release.

While it’s unclear how widespread they are, the incidents reflect the frustration that has built up after more than seven weeks of lockdown

even as the number of new daily cases has fallen to a few hundred in a city of 25 million people.

They also are a reminder of the power of China’s neighborhood committees that the ruling Communist Party relies on to spread propaganda messages

Such committees and the residential committees under them have become the target of complaints