In China’s westernmost Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, authorities have imposed a near-total lockdown and made rare acknowledgments for failing to respond to the Covid outbreak. pledged to do its utmost to And in a popular tourist destination in southern China’s Yunnan province, the government canceled flights and hordes of furious tourists were trapped at the airport.
China faces its biggest Covid case flare-up in a month, complicating preparations for a very important Communist Party meeting where Xi Jinping is expected to expand powers and claim his next term in power. . Provincial and local authorities have vowed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus from “spreading” into the capital, Beijing, where the conference will be held.
The country of 1.4 billion people had about 1,400 cases on Friday. But Chinese authorities are under great pressure not to interfere with the Communist Party Congress, which begins Oct. 16. They have responded by tightening restrictions that many already see as excessive. They have locked down regions and cities, mandated mass testing and quarantines, disrupting the lives of millions and amassing public complaints.
Officials are sticking to their “zero Covid” policy of eliminating transmission despite the strategy’s enormous economic and social costs. As a sign, it has made “zero coronavirus” a political imperative, linking support for this policy with support for the Communist Party, aiming to celebrate China’s success in controlling the epidemic.
Willie Lam, an adjunct professor of political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said China’s pandemic strategy was “akin to a political campaign to show loyalty to Xi Jinping himself.” “Local officials who want to stay in Xi Jinping’s grace are even more alarmed by this.”
The surge in COVID-19 cases is partly due to the week-long National Day holiday that began on October 1st. Health officials urged people to limit travel, but many flocked to popular tourist destinations. Now they are stranded after flights and trains have been cancelled.
Lockdowns are punishing residents of less developed areas. Food and medicine shortages were common in these areas, prompting residents to complain and seek help on social media.
The fast-spreading Omicron variants have always evaded China’s strict regulations. Officials in Xinjiang have been forced to admit that the failure of their approach has led to spillovers from the region to other provinces and major cities, including Beijing.
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Vice President Liu Sushe acknowledged this week that the region of 22 million people is facing the most difficult public health emergency ever. He said some officials had failed to take appropriate measures to quell the epidemic and had neglected their jobs. Liu said measures such as mandatory mass testing may have even contributed to the spread of the virus as some health workers who were not wearing proper protective equipment became infected.
On Tuesday, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region effectively banned residents and tourists from leaving the country, halting all trains and buses leaving the region and suspending most flights. But such lockdowns can lead to further problems. Last month, residents of Yining, a city in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, flooded social media platforms asking for food and other supplies, including sanitary pads and medicines, during the long lockdown. Shortages of basic supplies and disorderly efforts to curb the outbreak had already forced local authorities to admit failure.
Similar issues in other regions, notably Shanghai earlier this year and Tibet a few weeks ago, have led to outrage over the human and economic toll of the draconian measures.
In the southwestern province of Yunnan, angry travelers took to Chinese social media site Weibo to vent their anger at being stuck at Xishuangbanna airport after their flights were abruptly canceled. On Tuesday, health authorities in Xishuangbanna county tightened restrictions, effectively confining most people to their homes.
Several videos shared online showed what appeared to be security or police officers in white hazmat suits carrying guns and riot shields at the airport. An indignant tourist yelled, “Who are you pointing your gun at?” The New York Times was unable to independently verify the mostly censored video on Chinese social media, but it continued to circulate widely on Twitter.
On Weibo, a commenter who said he was in an area under lockdown in Yunnan complained of not knowing when he would be able to leave. Many people wrote that they were worried about getting basic necessities since most supermarkets were closed. Some stranded travelers have formed self-help groups to exchange information. Some people have.
Covid cases surged to nearly 700 in Inner Mongolia on Friday. This is the highest number among Chinese provinces and up from a handful a week ago.
At a conference chaired by Inner Mongolia Party leader Sun Shaocheng, officials were instructed to stop the infection by “killing chickens with knives to slaughter cattle.” “Act more quickly, especially to prevent the spread and spillover to Beijing,” the official statement said. Since then, several cities and counties in the region have been on lockdown.
Overkill is becoming more and more the norm. In Hainan province, a tropical island often called China’s Hawaii, officials ordered mass testing after just two cases were detected on Monday. Tens of thousands of travelers have been stranded as the city of Sanya has just emerged from its August lockdown.
Public anger over the lockdown surged to extraordinary levels last month, including after 27 people died when a bus transporting people to quarantine facilities crashed in the southern city of Guiyang. There was a heated debate about whether it was causing more damage and disruption than the virus itself.
Authorities are struggling to fund and staff to stop the virus. In many poor areas, local government finances are being squeezed, especially as they attempt to conduct mass testing of millions of people every few days.
“So many regions are just exhausted,” said Dali Yang, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. “One of the big challenges, he said, is that all these people have been at the forefront for a very long time. increase.”