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The city of Xi’An has already recorded the worst outbreak of Covid-19 since the lockdown in Wuhan in 2020. The opinion is from the chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control (CDC), Zeng Guang.
Zeng pointed out that the current outbreak is caused by the much more transmissible delta variant. Xi’An has been in complete lockdown since December 23 and has recorded more than 1,500 infections since the start of last month.
The number, low by Western standards, is a cause for concern in a country that refuses to abandon its “Covid zero” policy. Residents have turned to social media to complain about the problems caused by the restrictions.
- The cases of a pregnant woman who suffered a miscarriage due to being denied entry to a hospital and an elderly man who died without being rescued during an angina crisis became viral.
- There are reports of food shortages on social media. Authorities promised to deliver cereals and vegetables.
The lockdown on the city has no end date, although the number of daily cases has cooled in recent days in Xi’An.
On Thursday night (6), China announced the discovery of a new outbreak of Covid in Henan, a few weeks before the Spring Festival, when about 350 million people travel to celebrate the date.
Why it matters:
- The government’s concern is visible, with television spots and advertisements on the subway continually warning of travel risks and reinforcing the need for prevention.
- Beijing shows no signs of trying to live with the virus. Reports like those of Xi’An, however, indicate a certain exhaustion of the population, until now obedient in the actions to combat the spread of the virus.
what also matters
Hong Kong has decided to discontinue service on two cruises following the identification of a possible cluster of infection caused by the omicron variant.
At least 2500 people were forced to disembark and test for Covid because they had close contact with an infected person. The tests came back negative, but the city decided to implement restrictions anyway.
Hong Kong ordered the cancellation of flights from several western countries for at least two weeks. From Saturday (8), planes from Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the USA will not be able to land in the city.
Cruise companies said they will refund part of the amount paid to all passengers affected by the new measure. There are no plans to resume services.
Players on the Chinese national football team were banned from getting tattoos. The decision is made by the General Administration of Sport of China, which also vetoed the recruitment of tattooed athletes under the age of 20.
In announcing the rule, the entity recommended that local teams organize “ideological and political education activities” and “strengthen the patriotic education” of athletes.
The topic is controversial not only in China, but throughout East Asia. Tattoos are associated in the popular imagination with sects and criminal groups.
In recent years, the Communist Party has tightened restrictions on media personalities with tattoos. He says it is an effort to promote “good examples for society”.
The Shandong court caused an uproar when it ruled that treason is not a valid reason to file for a divorce. It could only be done if the unfaithful party is in “cohabitation” with the lover.
“If you have evidence that your spouse got a room with someone of the opposite sex, you cannot file for divorce because it is not a long-term cohabitation,” the court said.
The article was taken down shortly afterwards. Lawyers wrote texts attacking the court’s position. They highlighted that the “basic principle of divorce is to safeguard the freedom” of both parties.
keep an eye
The Cyberspace Administration of China has released new rules for companies considering IPOs (initial offering of shares on stock exchanges) abroad.
- From now on, any Chinese company that maintains data on more than 1 million users will need to undergo a security review before being listed;
- If sensitive information or information of national security interest is discovered during the review, authorities will not be able to authorize the listing.
The new rules serve to prevent cases like Didi’s from happening again. The owner of 99 in Brazil and leader in the racing market in China was listed on the NY stock exchange and suffered government reprisals almost immediately.
Banned from registering new users in China and temporarily banned from app stores, Didi reached a settlement with authorities and agreed to de-list in the US.
Why it matters: the Chinese goal is to keep sensitive data stored on its own servers, preventing possible leaks to foreign powers.
to go deep
- One of the most vocal critics of the Chinese political system, Ai Weiwei is famous for the works of art he signs in defense of political freedom. In this interview with The Nation, he explains why he decided to leave China and go into exile in Europe. (porous paywall, in English
- The metaverse may be far from our reality in 2022, but that doesn’t mean the Chinese aren’t paying attention to it. In this report, Sixth Tone analyzes the recent Chinese speculation market involving houses and land that only exist in the virtual environment. (free, in English)
- Amazon has released pre-orders for the book “Kingdom of Characters”, by linguist and Chinese literature expert Jing Tsu. The long-awaited work narrates the saga for the creation of Standard Mandarin, an artificial language created to unify dialects and establish a common language between the different regions of China. (paid, in English)
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