China's tightening Covid-19 curbs fuel pushback

FRUSTRATION is simmering in China among residents and business groups navigating stricter Covid-19 control curbs, as the country reported on Friday (Nov 25) another historic high of daily infections, just weeks after hopes were raised of easing measures.

The resurgence of Covid cases in China, with 32,695 new local infections recorded for Thursday as numerous cities reported outbreaks, has prompted widespread lockdowns and other curbs on movement and business. The measures have also triggered pushback.

The French Chamber of Commerce in China called for authorities to properly implement Covid “optimisation” measures that it announced two weeks ago, in a statement widely shared on social media after the French embassy posted it on its Twitter-like Weibo account on Thursday.

The 20 measures, which include shortened quarantines and other more targeted steps, had “given hope” to French companies for more bilateral trade and economic exchanges, but “good policies also need to be implemented in a uniform manner, and without adding layers of other contradicting policies”, the chamber’s statement said.

The announcement of the 20 measures, just as rising cases sparked an increasingly heavy response under China’s strict zero-Covid approach, has caused widespread confusion and uncertainty in big cities, including Beijing, where many residents are locked down at home.

At the world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, more than 20,000 new hires have left after Covid-induced worker unrest occurred this week, further threatening output at Apple supplier Foxconn’s plant there.

References to a speech by a man in the south-western city Chongqing, who called for the government to admit its mistakes on Covid, were shared widely on Chinese social media, despite the work of censors.

“Give me liberty or death,” the bespectacled man told onlooking residents at the gate of a compound in an impassioned speech on Thursday in videos seen by Reuters.

“There is only one disease in the world, and that is being both poor and not having freedom,” he added. “We have now got both. We’re still struggling and suffering over a little cold.”

SEE ALSO

China's Covid infections hit record as economic outlook darkens

China’s daily Covid tally tops 30,000 for first time as curbs spread

The man was later seen being bundled towards a police car by security personnel, prompting angry shouts from onlookers.

Hashtags related to the man, who netizens have called “Chongqing’s superman brother” or “Chongqing hero” were censored on Friday. But individual users continued to show support by posting subtle messages or cartoon pictures of him.

As lockdowns afflict more people, some residents are proposing alternative approaches for their communities. In Beijing, residents of some compounds shared on WeChat proposals for how infected neighbours could quarantine at home if they did not display serious symptoms.

It is not clear whether such proposals would succeed.

Notices listing the circumstances under which health workers may remove a person from their home, aimed at educating people of their rights if asked to be taken to a quarantine centre, were also circulated online.

Oxford Economics senior economist Louise Loo said that reports of public dissatisfaction across provinces with partial or full lockdowns have gained momentum, as was the case during the last big outbreak in April, although these “don’t yet reflect large-scale collective action”.

“As before, we expect officials to be able to respond swiftly to stem the social risk of escalating protests, either through a combination of heavier-handed information controls, or with piecemeal easing of restrictions,” Loo said.

Although the April outbreak was concentrated in Shanghai, case clusters this time are more numerous and far-flung.

The southern city of Guangzhou and south-western Chongqing have recorded the bulk of cases, although hundreds of new infections have been reported daily in cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Jinan, Lanzhou, Xian and Wuhan.

Guangzhou, a city in the south with nearly 19 million people, reported 7,524 new locally transmitted cases, while Chongqing reported 6,500 cases.

Beijing reported 1,860 cases on Thursday, while the northern city of Shijiazhuang saw numbers quadruple. REUTERS