Beijing authorities have removed rare banners of political protest from an overpass in the Chinese capital, just days before the start of a twice-in-a-decade Communist Party congress.
The banners bore several slogans, including a call for President Xi Jinping's ouster and an end to strict COVID-19 policies, according to numerous images and videos circulated on Twitter, which is blocked in China.
Smoke could be seen emanating from the roadway above where the banners were hung in Beijing's north-western Haidian district, according to the images.
Haidian is home to several prestigious universities.
The incident comes at a very sensitive time in the Chinese capital, with authorities on high alert in the run-up to the 20th congress of the ruling Communist Party, where Mr Xi is expected to secure a third leadership term.
"Let us strike from schools and from work and remove the dictatorial traitor Xi Jinping," one of the slogans read.
It is highly unusual for Mr Xi to be specifically named in protests in China, where residents use euphemisms and oblique phrasing and images in efforts to evade censorship.
"We don't want COVID tests, we want to eat; we don't want lockdowns, we want to be free," another message on the red-lettered banners read.
China's zero-COVID policy, which has led to frequent lockdowns and caused heavy economic damage, has fuelled widespread frustration in Chinese cities.
Police on the scene deny seeing banners
There were no banners hanging from the roadway later in the day, but a circular black scar was visible on the shoulder area where the fire would have been.
There was a noticeable police presence in the area on Thursday evening, with several police cars and officers standing watch at the thoroughfare where the banners had been hung.
At times, they stopped pedestrians and questioned them.
Associated Press journalists were questioned three times and asked to produce identification.
Police denied anything unusual had happened in the area.
Three shopkeepers also denied seeing any banners, smoke or unusual activity.
One woman shook her head "no" without even looking up from her sewing machine.
But a cyclist waiting at a traffic light was overheard saying that traffic was clogged in the area in the morning and smoke was billowing from the bridge.
Social media and a song censored
Search terms related to the pictures and the protest topic yielded no results on China's heavily censored internet, although multiple indirect references could be found.
"There was a brave person in Beijing today," one Chinese social media user wrote, adding several thumbs up and roses of support.
Others showed support on the WeChat app by sharing links to a formerly little known song called "Sitong Bridge" — the name of the Haidian bridge — by an artist called Biuya.
By early evening, the song was censored on various Chinese music apps.
Posts containing the hashtags Beijing or Haidian were quickly blocked on China's popular Weibo social media platform.
Some of the posts expressed support and praised the unidentified person's courage without referring to the incident directly.
Others said on Twitter that their accounts had been temporarily disabled on another major Chinese platform, WeChat, after they shared photos of the incident.
China has the world's largest online population, building a reliance on the web for shopping and entertainment even while authorities carefully track commentary and quash any criticism of Mr Xi and other party leaders.
The government's strict anti-pandemic polices, which have placed millions of people under quarantine, have prompted small protests and confrontations with authorities.
Hu Xijin, the former editor of China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid and a high-profile commentator, tweeted: "China is currently stable, especially its capital Beijing. The COVID-19 epidemic has been well controlled here. In Beijing there is no public dissatisfaction caused by epidemic control as in some other remote places in China."
Wires/ABC
