Tuesday 29 November 2022 04:42 PM China protesters facing off with police draw comparisons with Tiananmen's 'tank ... trends now

Protesters defying China's brutal Communist regime and its hash zero-Covid policies are being compared to Tiananmen Square's famous 'tank man' in a move sure to send shivers down spines in Beijing. 

One piece of footage, thought to have been captured in the city of Shanghai during clashes at the weekend, shows a man standing in the path of a police riot van before he is bundled to the floor and beaten by officers. 

A second, thought to come from the city of Pingxiang also at the weekend, shows a female demonstrator calmly filming riot police before her phone is slapped out of her hand and hazmat-suited guards begin dragging her away.

As both videos spread online, Chinese social media users compared them to 'tank man' who blocked People's Liberation Army tanks as they left Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, the day after protesters demanding greater rights were massacred.

The man has never been identified, but the image of him dressed in a salary-man's white short and trousers, clutching a briefcase and facing down four tanks alone has become a world-famous symbol of resistance in the face of insurmountable odds.

Protests against Xi Jinping's increasingly authoritarian rule of China - which were sparked over Covid lockdowns but have quickly spiraled to include calls for greater individual freedoms - have drawn comparisons with the doomed  demonstrations 33 years ago.

Experts who spoke with MailOnline said the new protests are the first time they can recall a spontaneous, nationwide protest movement aimed at the central Chinese government since Tiananmen.

While the marches are not on the same scale and don't pose a direct threat to Xi or the Communist Party yet, the experts said they could easily spiral - especially when coupled with the economic difficulties facing the country.

Matthew Henderson, one of those who spoke out, said the protests mark the biggest threat to Xi's rule since he came to power a decade ago.

Separately, more footage revealed Chinese tanks rolling down the streets of Xuzhou - but it was unclear whether this was related to the protests or to recent military exercises.   

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 protests fuelled by anger over the unrelenting lockdowns as well as deep-rooted frustrations over China's political direction.

They mark the largest anti-government demonstrations China has seen since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. 

Chinese officials have ramped up their crackdown against the protests in the wake of the western media's coverage of Xi's rule being criticised over his 'zero-Covid' policy, which has resulted in millions of people living under strict lockdown restrictions for months.

But despite the heavy police presence, some protesters defiantly continued in their historic demonstrations last night.

In Shanghai, around six police officers were seen surrounding one demonstrator, who is heard shouting for help. The protester is seen trying to stop the officers from arresting him, but to no avail as they dragged him away.

In the northeastern city of Jinan, a group of protesters clashed with Hazmat-officials. The demonstrators were seen picking up a road block and pushing it towards the officials last night.

Scores of police officers wearing hazmat suits were also seen in the southern city of Guangzhou last night, as officials tried to curb the angry protests.

A number of protesters have been detained by police - including BBC journalist Edward Lawrence - but it is difficult to know how many due to a crackdown on independent media outlets in China. 

Mr Lawrence, a camera operator for the BBC's China Bureau who was covering the historic protests, was arrested and

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