Several military tanks have rolled through the streets of China as Chinese officials ramp up their crackdown against demonstrators who are protesting against Xi Jinpings disastrous zero-Covid policy, according to a media report.
A video shows a steady stream of tanks trundling through the eastern city of Xuzhou on Monday night, Daily Mail reported.
The footage will rekindle memories of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, when hundreds - if not thousands - of Chinese protesters were killed by soldiers in tanks, the report said.
Xi Jinping's Communist Party officials have ramped up their crackdown on demonstrators, with police officers seen wrestling with protesters before dragging them away.
A dramatic video shows a woman screaming as she is arrested by six police officers and dragged away from a main square in Hangzhou, as Chinese officials sought to crack down on protesters in the city.
Also read | Chinese universities send students home after protests
A man is seen trying to stop the police from arresting the woman by shouting at them, but two officials were seen running at the protester and screaming at him to get back, Daily Mail reported.
Footage also shows a huge crowd of protesters trying to stop a group of police officers from arresting two men in Hangzhou. But the officers were seen wrestling with the protesters and dragging the two demonstrators away while holding the scruff of their collars.
While police officers were dragging protesters away on Monday night, military tanks rolled through the streets of Xuzhou.
Locals questioned whether the tanks were heading to Shanghai, but others said it was possible the tanks were merely returning from military manoeuvres.
Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets since the weekend in protest against China's harsh zero-Covid policy.
They mark the largest anti-government demonstrations China has seen since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, Daily Mail reported.
Chinese protesters say police seeking them out
People in China who attended weekend protests against Covid restrictions say they have been contacted by police, as authorities begin clamping down, according to a media report.
Several people in Beijing said police had called demanding information about their whereabouts, BBC reported.
It is unclear how police might have discovered their identities.
On Tuesday, officials renewed a promise to speed up efforts to vaccinate older people. Vaccination rates among elderly people are relatively low.
China has recorded record numbers of new cases in recent days.
Over the weekend, thousands in China took to the streets demanding an end to Covid lockdowns - with some even making rare calls for President Xi Jinping to stand down, BBC reported.
But on Monday, planned protests in Beijing did not happen after officers surrounded the assembly point. In Shanghai, large barriers were erected along the main protest route and police made several arrests.
The demonstrations began after a fire in a high-rise block in Urumqi, western China, killed 10 people on Thursday. Many Chinese believe Covid restrictions contributed to the deaths, although the authorities deny this.
Asked whether the protests would prompt a change to zero-Covid rules, an official said China would continue to "fine tune and modify" its measures.
"We are going to maintain and control the negative impact to people's livelihoods and lives," said Mi Feng, a National Health Commission spokesman, at a press conference.
Also read | Police clampdown in China after days of protests
On Tuesday morning, police could be seen in both Beijing and Shanghai patrolling areas where some groups on the Telegram messaging app had suggested people should gather again, BBC reported.
A small protest in the southern city of Hangzhou on Monday night was also quickly stopped with people swiftly arrested.
Reports also say that police were stopping people and searching their phones to check if they had virtual private networks (VPNs) set up, as well as apps such as Telegram and Twitter which are blocked in China, BBC reported.
