Shanghai lockdown risks becoming biggest crisis of Xi Jinping's tenure

PARENTS forced to separate from their children. Elderly folks unable to access medical care. Locked-up residents chanting "we want to eat" and "we want freedom".

As much of the world moves on from the pandemic, the desperate scenes seeping out of China's most global city have shocked even citizens who were once staunch supporters of President Xi Jinping's Covid Zero strategy to eliminate the virus.

The struggle to obtain daily necessities like food and medical care has triggered rare pushback from residents, with some saying the Communist Party's cure is worse than the disease.

The growing angst risks becoming one of the biggest challenges to Xi perhaps since he took power in 2012, and comes just months before he's expected to secure a precedent-breaking third term at a twice-a-decade party congress later this year.

The outbreak has virtually paralysed one of China's most sophisticated and recognisable cities, with businesses shuttered and factories of companies like Tesla halting production.

Although the Communist Party remains firmly in control, the rare grassroots criticism undercuts Xi's ability to trumpet his Covid-19 strategy as evidence of China's superior model of governance - a key justification for him to stay in power.

China's Foreign Ministry has regularly blasted the United States and Europe for allowing so many deaths, while saying Xi's policy was "beyond reproach".

Greater pushback by residents in Shanghai could also inspire other cities to resist lockdowns and other stringent measures used by China to fight the virus. The northeastern province of Jilin, a vehicle-making and farming hub, has also been locked down for nearly a month, prompting residents to complain on social media about running out of food, cancer medication and baby formula.

The situation could still get worse in other parts of the country. China's outbreak is surpassing a level not seen since February 2020, when a 1-day correction in the way it tracked cases pushed daily infections past 15,000, largely in Wuhan.

"There is the risk of a slow-burn discontent if lockdown measures spread across China," said Chen Shih-Min, an associate political science professor at National Taiwan University. "And if its virus strategy goes out of control and heavily affects its economy, this will not look good as Xi attempts a third term. At that point, Xi will have no choice but to ramp up his nationalism agenda."

The Communist Party is feeling the heat. On Wednesday it issued a rare call imploring rank-and-file members to help contain the coronavirus in Shanghai, where daily cases rose to more than 19,900.

Shanghai officials are also racing to reassure residents that they can access essential supplies in a city home to top banks and the biggest stock exchange in the world's No 2 economy. The lockdowns and virus-containment measures threaten to slow China's growth this year to below the government's 5.5 target, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Deputy Mayor Chen Tong on Thursday pledged to "unlock" wholesale markets, fulfilment centres, e-commerce warehouses and central kitchens to ease the supply crunch for goods like infant formula. At the same briefing, Meituan vice-president Mao Fang said the food delivery company would bring in 1,000 sorting workers from outside the city to speed up deliveries.

'Shanghai, Keep Fighting' officials have ramped up assistance in recent days. Some residents have begun receiving food packs from the government that include eggs, milk, vegetables and luncheon meat. In certain places, those locked in have joined together to sing patriotic songs like Me and My Motherland from their balconies and chant Shanghai, Keep Fighting.

An open letter from the Communist Party committee in Shanghai on Wednesday appealed to patriotism. "Today, we communists in Shanghai must carry forward the founding spirit of the party, and let the party flag stand high on the front line of the fight against the epidemic," it said.

Still, even that was met with scorn from some Internet users.

The government has tried to censor the unrest, with Bloomberg reporting last week that videos of a rare protest in a locked-down housing compound were deleted from a social media platform by tech giant Tencent Holdings. Other incidents that have gone viral on Chinese social media platforms are still accessible on places like Twitter and YouTube. BLOOMBERG