More Chinese cities eased COVID restrictions and police patrolled their streets on Thursday, as the government tried to quell public anger over some of the world’s toughest coronavirus measures and prevent further protests.
Following the weekend demonstrations, in which some crowds made the politically explosive demand that leader Xi Jinping step down, the streets of major cities have been quiet in the face of a largely unnoticed crackdown.
Guangzhou in the south, Shijiazhuang in the north, Chengdu in the southwest, and other big cities announced they were easing requirements for testing and movement controls. In some areas, markets and bus services have reopened. A newspaper reported that Beijing, the capital, has begun allowing some people with the virus to self-isolate at home, avoiding the crowded quarantine centers that have prompted complaints. The government did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
But many of the rules that brought people onto the streets in Shanghai, Beijing and at least six other cities remain in effect. The death of former leader Jiang Zemin this week could provide another opportunity for crowds to gather and potentially protest.
The announcements easing the restrictions did not mention the protests last weekend over the human cost of anti-virus measures that confine millions of people to their homes. But the timing and the publicity suggest that the Xi government is trying to appease public anger.
Although experts say Beijing’s policies are unsustainable, they warn it cannot relax the controls that keep most travelers out of China until tens of millions of older people are vaccinated. They say that means “COVID zero” could stay in effect for up to another year.
With a heavy police presence, there were no signs of protests on Thursday. Posts on social media complained that people were being stopped at random for police to check smartphones, possibly looking for banned apps like Twitter, in what they said was a violation of China’s constitution.
“I am especially afraid of becoming the ‘Xinjiang model’ and being searched under the excuse of walking,” said a post signed by Qi Xiaojin on the popular Sina Weibo platform, referring to the northwestern region where Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities They are under intense surveillance.
Protesters have publicized the protests on Twitter and other foreign social networks that the Communist Party is trying to block access to, while videos and photos are removed from services inside China. However, the police appear to be trying to keep their crackdown out of sight, possibly to avoid encouraging others by drawing attention to the scale of the protests.
On Thursday, the government reported 36,061 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, including 31,911 without symptoms.
The industrial centers of Shenyang and Harbin, in the northeast of the country, announced that students who attend school online and others who have minimal interaction with others would no longer have to undergo tests for the virus that are have administered up to once a day.
In Beijing, some neighborhoods have started allowing people with mild or asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 to self-isolate at home, the Yicai newspaper reported on its website. The anti-epidemic agency did not respond to questions sent to its office by fax.
The report gave no details, but a post on the Gaobeidian district government’s social media account on Thursday said people there who test positive can stay at home. It was later deleted.
Meanwhile, state television announced that the funeral of Jiang, who was the leader of the ruling party until 2002 and president until the following year, will be held on Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China’s ceremonial legislature in downtown from Peking. Jiang died Wednesday at the age of 96.
The party announced that no foreign dignitaries will be invited, in line with Chinese tradition. He said there would be no “farewell ceremony for the body”, possibly due to virus checks.
Washington is monitoring the “very strong security” in Beijing and other cities with “great care and great attention,” Ambassador Nicholas Burns said in an online appearance before an audience in Chicago. He gave no indication that the Biden administration was taking any action.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has defended its response to the virus and rejected criticism from the United States.
“Facts have shown that China’s epidemic response measures are science-based, correct and effective,” said a ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. Pointing to the US death toll, he said the country is “not in a position to point the finger at China’s response to COVID.”
Xi’s government has promised to reduce the disruption to its “zero COVID” strategy by shortening lockdowns and making other changes. But he says he will maintain the restrictions that have repeatedly closed schools and businesses and cut off access to neighborhoods.
Protests against the rules began on Friday after at least 10 people were killed in a fire at an apartment building in Urumqi, Xinjiang. That prompted questions about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other controls. Authorities denied this, but the deaths became a focus of public frustration.
The government says it is making restrictions more targeted and flexible, but the surge in infections since October has prompted local officials, threatened with loss of their jobs if an outbreak occurs, to impose controls that some residents say they are excessive and destructive.
Information of: The Times of Israel
Photo credits: PA
