China’s most populous city and most important economic hub is battling the country’s biggest COVID-19 outbreak by closing off areas of the city and forcing all those who test positive into quarantine centers.
The lockdown in Shanghai has fuelled frustration among the public over lost wages, family separations, poor conditions in quarantine, and lack of access to medical care and food.
China’s “zero Covid” policy comes with a price, causing its economy to crumble, taking down the rest of the world’s economy with it. In fact, a global recession is a highly-predicted outcome of the extreme measures being implemented by the CCP.
Neighborhood volunteers and medical workers in particular often bear the brunt of residents’ anger, and many have spoken of receiving abuse and threats.
They often have to work long hours wearing uncomfortable, sweaty hazmat suits, and face the same struggles to find enough food and supplies as other residents.
Many residents have turned to the Internet to vent about the lockdown and express dissent, using euphemisms and other means to battle government censors who often remove content critical of the authorities.
100 Percent FedUp reported:
Currently, travel to and from China is being strictly limited, and travelers coming into the country from abroad are being forced to quarantine for two weeks in government-designated hotels, followed by an additional period of monitoring. Additionally, if infections within a community are detected, residents can be evicted by hazmat-wearing police and forced to relocate to quarantine facilities.
Furthermore, non-essential businesses have been completely shut down, as well as public transportation and most vehicle movement. Schools also continue to be closed.
On Friday, Shanghai officials announced their goal to achieve zero Covid cases outside of quarantine by May 20, which could ease restrictions throughout the major city. The government is clearly prioritizing its “zero Covid” strategy over the economic well-being of its country.
The CCP’s approach has even drawn criticisms from the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. After President Xi Jinping reiterated his commitment to China’s Covid strategy, Ghebreyesus said, “Considering the behavior of the virus, I think a shift will be very important.”
However, analysts report that shifting his focus away from the “zero Covid” strategy could threaten his chances of securing a third term as CCP President.
Aside from the economic destruction from the CCP Covid policies, there is significant distress among the Chinese population as they are forced to give up their livelihoods and so many aspects of their lives during these strict protocols.
The Chinese police have been physically forcing citizens out of their homes and into government quarantine facilities, whether or not they consent. The police have been facing criticism for the harsh tactics they are using to force people into quarantine against their will, even when they have tested negative for the illness.
In a now-viral video circulating throughout the news and social media, police officers dressed in hazmat suits are at the door of a Shanghai family’s home and trying to remove them from the premises and take them to a quarantine facility.
Whenever the family refuses, the officers begin to threaten the family, saying:
“If you don’t obey the orders from the city government, you will be punished, and the punishment will affect three generations in your family.”
“We are the last generation, thank you,” the man at the home says, and closes the door on the officers.
“We Are the Last Generation, Thank You!” Man says this when #CCP police threaten him that if he refuses to be taken to the #COVID19 #quarintine camp, he will be published and it will affect three generations of his family. pic.twitter.com/A3K3CFcnrK
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) May 14, 2022
Many young Chinese citizens responded to this video, expressing the pressures they are feeling from the Chinese government to have children, especially during this time of severe strain on their society.
Here’s what one user on China’s social media platform Weibo said:
“I laughed at first but in the end, I felt a sense of great sadness. He is resisting by giving up his reproductive rights.”
Zhang Xuezhong, a human rights lawyer in Shanghai, wrote:
“It is a tragic expression of despair of the deepest kind. We’ve been robbed of a future that is worth looking forward to. It is arguably the strongest denunciation a young man can make of the era he lives in.”
Another shocking video from Shanghai captures a woman being dragged out of her home by the CCP’s Covid prevention and control unit. It appears that she is being forced to leave her home for a government quarantine facility.
Woman in #Shanghai dragged out of her multi-million yuan apartment like an animal. In the name of #COVID19 prevention and control, the #CCP can do anything.
住著幾百萬的房子有什麼用？還不是像狗似的被拖出來。肥的瘦的，左右不過都是韭菜。#中共病毒 pic.twitter.com/dp5Dhvw8jl— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) May 15, 2022
Source: 100percentfedup