Sun Jian, a 37-year-old postgraduate student in the Chinese city of Yantai, campaigned for months on his own against the university’s measures to prevent COVID-19, expressing strong criticism on social media, among other things.
The glass that overflowed the glass in terms of Chinese authorities was on March 27, when Sun entered the campus holding a placard with a message calling for the lifting of the “lockdown in Ludong”.
Police arrested him and on April 1 Lundong University expelled him, according to a letter from the university seen by Reuters.
Chinese citizens largely support COVID’s “zero tolerance” policy, which has kept the coronavirus under control for two years, since it first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and spread rapidly. rhythms around the world.
Measures-torture
However this support seems to be weakening as the highly contagious Omicron strain spreads to China, causing restrictive measures that have led to food shortages, family separation, lost wages and financial woes.
Sun’s reactions reflect growing frustration and resentment, in a society that generally respects the principles, of a COVID strategy questioned by the Omicron variant.
In some cases the reactions have gone viral on social media, with videos showing citizens clashing with health workers and screaming in anger through the windows of their apartments.
The scope for disagreement has narrowed as China has become more authoritarian under President Xi Jinping, and anger over COVID restrictions has caused headaches for authorities calling on citizens to make sacrifices for the greater good.
Sun said his university had pursued distance learning and barred students from leaving the university as well as receiving packages or food from distributors. He dismissed the restrictions as unnecessary, given the low death toll, he claims, associated with the Omicron variant.
“The problems caused by the virus can not be compared to the disruption of some of the anti-COVID measures taken by our school,” Sun told Reuters by telephone. According to him, his social media accounts have been blocked.
Dissatisfaction
Arrests and detentions for violating COVID-related rules increased in March, according to the results of a search of police announcements, government posts and state-run media reports from across China on the social networking platform Weibo.
The investigation revealed 59 confirmed police cases and 26 arrests for violating COVID rules in January and fewer in February. However, more than 600 police cases and 150 confirmed arrests were reported on Weibo in March, according to a Reuters investigation.
It is possible that these data correspond to only a part of the facts as not all the incidents are reported on social media nor are they announced by the authorities.
According to public security services, crackdowns on COVID measures intensified in March, with cities and counties issuing 80 notices on their Weibo accounts, up from 7 in January and 10 in February.
Most of the violations concern citizens who try to circumvent rules such as reporting their movements in a special application, falsifying the results of coronavirus tests and secretly leaving their neighborhoods where a lockdown has been imposed. An increase is also recorded in attacks on health workers.
Police also reported arrests of citizens who “express dissatisfaction” and use “inappropriate language” regarding the pandemic.
As resentment grows, authorities try to control the situation, often censoring online complaints. On April 5, videos of an anti-lockdown demonstration in Langfang, a city near Beijing, were quickly removed by Weibo. Last week, Shanghai announced crackdowns on ‘rumors’, threatening to shut down social media outlets that have committed violations.
However, public reactions can have consequences.
Last month, students at Sichuan University in Chengdu forced university authorities to lift the lockdown at the institution after protests, according to the South China Morning Post.
Besides the dystopian situations in Shanghai are captured in videos circulating through social media:
NEW – Police use increasingly brutal force to enforce the Communist Party quarantine orders in #Shanghai.pic.twitter.com/Z3EEbOF6rw
– Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 14, 2022
The people in Shanghai are starving, but all the food is being wasted in logistics warehouses. This is a man-made disaster. pic.twitter.com/u81IW29fZv
– Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) April 14, 2022
Lockdown in Shanghai, China 🇨🇳
No child should ever be treated like this.pic.twitter.com/gPlzIZVrAX
– James Melville (@JamesMelville) April 9, 2022
Speechless … #shanghai # 上海 封 城 #lockdown pic.twitter.com/e9cycgormO
– Sebastian @ 上海 (@SebastianBorn) April 14, 2022
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