Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said everyone in China should be allowed to express themselves amid Beijing's crackdown on COVID-19. He also said that the University of Ottawa should not prevent reporters from filming the Chinese ambassador this week.

Angry crowds in China had called on leader Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest display of public opposition in decades, as the regime eased some of its strict controls after protests in at least eight cities on the mainland as well as Hong Kong.

But the authorities showed no sign of backing down from their larger "zero COVID" strategy that locked millions of people in their homes for months at a time.

Trudeau said: "Obviously everyone in China should be allowed to express themselves (and) they should be allowed to share their views, and indeed protest. We will continue to make sure that China knows we will defend human rights. We will also stand with people who express themselves. We also need to make sure that China, and places around the world, respect journalists and their ability to do their work."

Meanwhile, Chinese ambassador Kong Xu on Monday defended his country's handling of the protests after a speech he gave to University of Ottawa students. Tsung said, "In China, politics works well," adding that Beijing has eased COVID-19 restrictions as scientific knowledge evolved.

Kong’s speech also focused on different models of governance, insisting that China is governed through an increasing number of online consultation platforms, as well as elections and responses to protests.

During Kong’s remarks on Monday, a protest on campus against China’s treatment of the Uighurs was prevented from being seen as journalists were allowed to attend Kong’s speech but prevented from filming, which the prime minister rejected on Tuesday. Trudeau told reporters in French, "I don’t know all the details of the incident but for me they made a mistake in banning the cameras."

Also, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who oversees media funding, said he could not go into the details of the incident, adding: "Freedom of the press is one of the foundations of democracy and it must take precedence over everything. I can’t speak generally about the university, but as I tell you, our democracy is built on (freedom of the press)."