Rare mass protests erupt in China over ‘cover-up’ of teen deaths as crowds accuse police officers of brutal violence

Rare mass protests have erupted in China over the “cover-up” of a teenager’s mysterious death, with large crowds attacking police who responded with brutal violence.

Footage circulating on social media shows angry demonstrators clashing with authorities in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province during a protest outside a vocational school where a student died earlier this month.

Authorities said the teenager died on Jan. 2 in an accident at his school dormitory, but allegations of a cover-up began circulating on social media after his death.

Videos on social media platform X showed that the collision took place at the new campus of the Puchen County Vocational Education Center.

One chaotic video shows dozens of uniformed police retreating from an angry mob that throws rods and other objects at them.

In another clip, several policemen rushed to grab the woman, while another policeman a few meters away hit the man several times with a baton as he approached him.

The footage also shows young demonstrators storming school buildings, confronting officials and clashing with heavily armed police.

Authorities reportedly fired tear gas and increased their presence on campus in an attempt to quell the unrest.

According to a post on X on January 7, the New York-based China Human Rights Organization said the protest was linked to the death of a 17-year-old student.

It said the dead student’s family were not allowed to check the child’s body for any injuries and were told the school’s CCTV system had been damaged after they demanded to see the footage.

The family claimed that photos from the student’s cell phone were also deleted.

“These actions have led to public speculation that the school is attempting to cover up the truth,” the group said.

The Weinan Public Security Bureau did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request to confirm whether the protest was related to the details reported by Human Rights In China.

Pucheng authorities said in a statement on January 5 that a student surnamed Dang died at the Pucheng County Vocational Education Center campus after falling from a building.

“These actions have led to public speculation that the school is attempting to cover up the truth,” the group said.

Little is known about what happened next, but reports on social media suggest a much larger police presence in Pucheng in recent days, with no further reports of demonstrations.

A joint investigation team formed for the case ruled out any foul play and informed the student’s family of its findings.

According to the investigation team’s statement, Dang was found dead by another student at 3 a.m. on January 2.

Before his death, Dang was woken up in the night by other students talking in his dormitory, their statement said.

He got into an argument and an argument with the boy, which was resolved by a school official.

That night, another student found his body at the foot of the dormitory.

The statement described it as “an accident involving a student falling from a height at school.”

It added that police had conducted an investigation and an autopsy and “are ruling this out as a criminal matter at this time.”

Public security officers conducted an inspection of the scene, reviewed CCTV footage, conducted an interview and an external examination of the body, the investigative team said.