Beijing’s intransigence for the policy of zero cases brings unprecedented episodes

Policy “zero tolerance” implements Beijing to implement the “zero case policy” of COVID. However, by now, Xi Jinping’s policy is developing into a vicious cycle, as the wave of civil disobedience is unprecedented in mainland China, with frustration growing and incidents becoming the norm in some areas.

Hundreds of protesters and police clashed in Shanghai as protests over China’s strict Covid restrictions flared for another day and spread to several cities, in the biggest test yet for the president Xi Jinping since securing a historic third term in office. The wave of civil disobedience is unprecedented in mainland China in the past decade, as frustration grows over Xi’s “zero Covid cases” policy nearly three years into the pandemic. The protests, sparked by a deadly apartment fire in the western part of the country last week, spread on Sunday to cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Wuhan.

It is noted that on Monday, China reported a new daily record of new Covid-19 cases, with 40,347 infections, which makes it difficult for Beijing to back down. The cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing, with thousands of cases, are struggling to contain them. Hundreds of cases were also reported in several other cities across the country. Chinese shares fell sharply as investors expressed concerns about the impact of the protests on the world’s second-largest economy. Early Monday in Beijing, two groups of protesters, totaling at least 1,000 people, gathered along the Chinese capital’s 3rd Ring Road near the Liangma River, refusing to disperse. There was a heavy police presence in Shanghai on Sunday. “Simply we want our basic human rights”, said a 26-year-old protester in Shanghai who declined to be named. “People here are not violent, but the police arrest them for no reason. They tried to arrest me, but the people around me grabbed my hands and pulled me back so I could escape,” he added.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Shanghai. Some clashed with the police who tried to disperse them. People held white sheets of paper in protest. On Saturday, people in Shanghai chanted “No PCR test, we want freedom!”

In the central city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began three years ago, videos on social media showed hundreds of residents taking to the streets, breaking down metal barriers, overturning tents where Covid tests were being carried out and demanding an end to lockdowns. Another city that has seen protests is Lanzhou in the northwest.

Widespread public protests are rare in China, where space for dissent has been virtually eliminated under Xi, forcing citizens to mostly vent their frustrations on social media, where they play cat and mouse with censors.

China insists on Xi’s policy for “zero cases of Covid”, even as much of the world has lifted most restrictions. While low by global standards, China’s case numbers have reached record levels for days, with nearly 40,000 new infections on Saturday, prompting even more lockdowns in cities across the country. Beijing has defended the policy as “lifesaving and necessary” to avoid the collapse of the health care system. Disappointment is widespread, just over a month after Xi secured a third term at the helm of China’s Communist Party, and much of the anger is directed at China’s leader. In a video on social media, a protester accused Xi of locking people up and confining them to their homes. “Xi Jinping should resign, the Communist Party should resign,” he says in the widely shared post.

However, Dan Mattingly, assistant professor of political science at Yale University, says the unrest is a far cry from that seen in 1989, when protests culminated in the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square. He added that as long as Xi has China’s elite and the military on his side, he would face no significant threat to his power.

The arrest of the British journalist

On Sunday night, the BBC announced that one of its staff, Ed Lawrence, who is an accredited journalist, had alleged that he was “hit and kicked by the police” while covering the protests. Footage on social media suggests that he is dragged to the ground in handcuffs, while in another video he was seen saying: “Call the consulate now.”

According to Chinese officials, Lawrence he was arrested… “for his own good” because he was at risk of contracting COVID from the crowd, but the BBC said it was “extremely concerned” about how he was treated by authorities, adding that he was held for several hours before being released. China’s foreign ministry said Lawrence did not claim to be a journalist and that the BBC’s statement “does not reflect what happened”.

“Her fight against covid-19 will be successful”

However, China announced that “its fight against covid-19 will be successful”. These demonstrations are the result of an explosion of popular anger that has not stopped growing in recent months in China, the only major global economy that still implements a “zero covid” policy, with repeated lockdowns and almost daily molecular testing of the population.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, estimated that “on social media there are forces with hidden motives that connected this fire with the management of covid by local authorities”.

“Under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and with the support of the Chinese people, our fight against covid-19 will be successful,” he assured.

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