In one of the first signs of unrest after authorities lifted the lockdown in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, several shop owners protested outside one of the biggest shopping malls in the city to demand a cut in rent.
On Friday, several shop owners sat or kneeled down one metre apart from each other, wearing masks and holding placards outside the Grand Ocean Department Store, the Times of India reported.
They demanded the landlord to return the rent and security deposit for their shops during the lockdown. They said the property dealer in charge of the mall should exempt rent as they were small shop owners and haven’t had any business since the virus outbreak.
A day earlier on Thursday, they had chanted “exempt rental for a year or refund the lease” in videos uploaded on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo platform that were quickly censored.
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