Hundreds of groups of Beijing residents leave their condominiums, effectively breaking China’s existing epidemic prevention measures, as protests spread through various cities in the Asian country.
“People are simply disobeying,” Fabian Kratschmer, a German journalist based in the Chinese capital, told the Lusa agency. “It seems that we have reached a tipping point in the ‘zero covid’ strategy,” he said.
Several testimonies heard by the Lusa agency recounted similar experiences: groups of residents from all over the city organized themselves and demanded that the respective committees of their neighborhoods present an order, signed by the Government, ordering the blockade and the respective legal bases for the measures. . In several neighborhoods, residents tore down sheets of metal, effectively unlocking their living areas.
“It is shaking, but the regime is well anchored,” says Teresa Nogueira, Coordinator of the co-group on human rights in China Amnesty International Portugal, in statements to TSF🇧🇷
“Xi Jinping has carried out this consolidation of the regime over the years, putting in key positions who he wants and removing those who may have some hint of dissatisfaction and, therefore, the regime is fine and has the forces armed behind.
In Beijing, the ripple effect began on Saturday, when videos surfaced of residents taking to the streets against the committee’s orders.
China’s epidemic prevention measures are the most restrictive in the world, under the ‘zero cases’ policy of covid-19. The strategy includes isolating all positive cases and close contacts, locking down entire neighborhoods or cities, and constantly conducting mass testing.
There are no reports of violent clashes in the Chinese capital.
However, in Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China, the Haizhu district has been the scene of violent clashes between migrant workers and security forces. In the city of Zhengzhou, in the center of the country, thousands of workers at a Foxconn factory, the group that assembles the iPhones of the North American Apple, also broke out last week in episodes of violence between workers and security forces.
“I have lived in China for 30 years and have never seen such a flagrant expression of anger against the government,” said David Moser, a Beijing-based American sinologist. “This is a serious test for the CCP government,” he noted.
Also in the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Urumqi, peaceful demonstrations broke out against the restrictions imposed in the country, caused by a fire in Urumqi, which left ten dead. Images posted on social media show that the fire truck was initially unable to enter the neighborhood, as the access door was blocked, and that residents were also unable to escape from the building, whose door was blocked, as a result of security measures. epidemic prevention.
In Urumqi, groups of protesters chanted “Those of you who refuse to be slaves, stand up” – a line from the Chinese national anthem – and chanted “We want freedom”, calling for an end to mass testing and QR codes. two-dimensional version of the barcode placed at the entrance of all buildings, as well as public transport or taxis. Access to public or residential places depends on scanning these codes with an application installed on the mobile phone.
Outrage also flooded the country’s social networks, despite the fact that the censorship apparatus works to delete the protest videos and messages posted by Internet users.
“We can finally see that there is blood on the gills of Chinese youth,” Song Mei, a Chinese native of Beijing, told Lusa. “There is still hope for this country,” she said.
According to the specialized portal What’s On Weibo, numerous users of the Weibo social network -the equivalent of Twitter, which is censored in the country- expressed their support for the vigil, but, above all, they asked the participants to protect themselves, before the censors of the platform. ban comments.
The same portal said that, at a university in Nanjing, eastern China, students gathered on the ‘campus’, on Saturday night, and turned on the lights of their cell phones, in a vigil in memory of those killed in Urumqi.
At another university, in this case in Xian, in the center of the country, a city that has also experienced severe blockades, a group of students went out on campus to show their discontent with the confinement measures.
According to data from the National Health Commission, China added almost 40,000 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, a new daily record. The geographic variety of cases is also unprecedented, affecting dozens of cities across the country simultaneously.
This coincides with the celebration of the World Cup. The sporting event, attended by tens of millions of Chinese, highlighted for many the contrast between the country and the rest of the world, prompting the slogan #SeráQueWeWeNoMesmoPlanet on Chinese social media.
Many Chinese, hitherto limited to information linked to official bodies, which continue to portray the outside world as “virus-ravaged” as opposed to a “safe” China, were shocked by the absence of social distancing rules and supporters. no masks
“The World Cup has started and Beijing is absolutely silent,” Jessica, a Chinese flight attendant based in the Chinese capital, described in a widespread comment on the WeChat social network, during the opening ceremony of the World Cup. “I feel like I’m at the bottom of a well, looking at a wonderful world that I can’t interact with,” she added. “What then is the purpose of living?” she asked.
Source: TSF
