Shanghai steps up lockdown after Xi Jinping insists on Covid zero policy

Shanghai is tightening its strict lockdown measures even further after Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to “unshakably” bend the country’s controversial “Covid zero” policy, leaving millions of people confined to their homes with no end in sight. .

Over the weekend, videos showing Shanghai residents arguing with workers and vested police as they were forcibly taken into government quarantine circulated widely on Chinese social media. Many were removed by censors after provoking public backlash.

The outcry comes as authorities appear to have pulled back on efforts to ease restrictions in some parts of the city, despite a drop in new infections as local officials come under pressure to curb community transmission of the virus.

Under the new hard-line policies, even residents with negative Covid tests can be placed in centralized government quarantine.

According to social media posts and local government notices circulating online, in various parts of the city, entire apartment blocks were considered health hazards, with all occupants forced out of their homes and quarantined with only one positive case.

A viral video shows residents arguing with police officers who showed up at their doors decked out to take them into quarantine after someone on their floor tested positive.

“From now on, people living on the same floor (as Covid-positive people) must be transported (to quarantine),” says a police officer in the video.

“It’s not that you can do whatever you want—unless you’re in America. This is China,” another officer says firmly, waving a bottle of antiseptic in his hand. “Stop asking me why. There is no why. We have to obey our country’s regulations and epidemic control policies.”

THE CNN could not independently confirm that such a policy had been issued and contacted the Shanghai municipal government for clarification. THE CNN was unable to identify the people who participated in the video and does not know if they were later taken into quarantine.

A worker in a protective suit stands guard at a bus station during a lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Shanghai, China.  April 30, 2022

According to online notices, some neighborhoods have imposed so-called “quiet periods,” lasting two or three days, during which residents are not allowed to leave their homes. These residents were also temporarily banned from ordering groceries and staples online, leading to renewed fears of food shortages.

The escalation follows a personal intervention by Xi, who on Thursday issued what many interpreted as a threat to opponents of Covid zero policy, making it clear that he would not tolerate “acts that distort, doubt or deny the epidemic prevention policies in our country”.

Xi also demanded that officials demonstrate a “deep, complete and comprehensive understanding” of the policy and warned them against “inadequate awareness, inadequate preparation and insufficient work” in implementing the policy.

Hours after Xi’s speech, the Shanghai Municipal Communist Party committee met late on Thursday to study his instructions. And at a news conference on Sunday, Shanghai’s municipal health commission said the city was at a “critical juncture” in bringing the outbreak under control.

“It’s like sailing against the current in a boat; we must move forward or be pushed downstream. We must not relax or be careless,” said Zhao Dandan, a deputy director of the commission.

Zhao also pledged to “resolutely implement the requirement to ‘take in all who must be taken in’ and ‘quarantine all who must be put in quarantine’ to stop the community spread of the epidemic as quickly as possible.”

tensions

The strict quarantine requirements have driven many residents of the financial center to despair, millions of whom have been subjected to more than six weeks of severe confinement.

Tong Zhiwei, a professor of law at the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, denounced such measures as unconstitutional in a widely shared essay on social media.

“Any action that forcibly sends residents into centralized quarantine is illegal and must be stopped immediately,” Tong wrote.

“The state of emergency is a legal status and can only exist after a legitimate organization declares it in accordance with the constitution; absolutely cannot be decided at random or declared recklessly by any institution or official,” Tong wrote.

At the same time, Liu Dali, a financial lawyer at a leading Chinese law firm based in Shanghai, wrote a public letter demanding that the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress — the city’s bureaucratic legislature — introduce measures to protect citizens’ rights against epidemic measures such as forced quarantine.

Screenshots of both cards were taken from the Chinese internet after they caught everyone’s attention. On “China’s Twitter,” known as Weibo, Tong’s verified account has been banned from posting since Monday. A hashtag of her name was also censored.

In thinly veiled sarcasm, some netizens shared a 2015 article in the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, citing Xi months after he took over the Party’s leadership in 2012: “No organization or individual has the privilege of being above the constitution. and the law. Any act that violates the constitution and the law must be investigated and held accountable.”

When the post began to circulate, users were soon greeted with a blatant message saying that “the content has been removed by the author”.

Source: CNN Brasil

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