The main Chinese security agency asked this Tuesday “energy measures” after several days of protests in the main cities of the country to protest against the strict sanitary confinements and to ask for more freedoms.
security forces they are lined up all over China in front of the demonstrations which had not been seen for decades, due to the strict confinements against covid-19 and the population’s frustration with the political system.
In a statement, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party, China’s top security organ, said yes “necessary to crack down on infiltration activitiesny sabotage by hostile forces in accordance with the law,” according to a report of a meeting published by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
On Tuesday, however, the authorities decided accelerate vaccination of the elderly against covid-19 and the National Health Commission of China pledged to “accelerate the increase in the vaccination rate of people over the age of 80 and continue to increase the vaccination rate of people aged 60 to 79”.
Measures
Currently, only 65.8% of the inhabitants are over 80 years old they are fully vaccinated, according to the National Health Commission.
The limited vaccination coverage of the elderly is one of the arguments of the communist government to justify its strict health policy, which materializes in endless borders, quarantines upon arrival from abroad and almost daily tests for the population.
Improving vaccination rates could offer China just one way out of its “zero covid” policy.
In effect for almost three years, this policy he was the target of anger popular in some demonstrations that took place this weekend, the largest since the 1989 pro-democracy movement.
For context, the frustration of many with China’s political system also plays a part. Some have even called for the resignation of President Xi Jinping, recently elected to a third term.
The trigger it was a deadly fire last week in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang (Northwest) region.
The work of firefighters would have been hampered by health regulations, arguments that the government denied on Monday.
On Tuesday night, the heavy police presence seemed to have eased on the streets of rainy Shanghai. Even if the fury was still alive.
“Current politics [de cero covid] it is too severeand it kills more people than the coronavirus itself,” said a 17-year-old passerby, who asked AFP to be identified only as Ray.
The complaints
At Hong Kong’s oldest university, a dozen people led a crowd on Tuesday that chanted slogans such as “give me freedom or give me death”.
“We are not foreign agents, we are Chinese citizens. China should have different voices,” one woman said, while another held up a banner in tribute to the victims of the Urumqi fire.
A Chinese student told Hong Kong’s AFP he was worried about being detained, but felt the need to “maintain the spirit of resistance”.
The Chinese government sand remains firm with its zero covid policy, but there are signs that the local authorities are trying to relax some rules to contain the protests.
In Urumqi, an official on Tuesday said the city would pay 300 yuan ($42) to every person “with low or no income” and announced a five-month rent moratorium for some families.
in beijing It was forbidden to padlock the gates of residential areas, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, a practice that has sparked anger for leaving people cooped up in front of small outbreaks of contagion.
foreign supports
The demonstrations generated rallies of support abroad, as well as messages of concern.
On Monday, the White House said US President Joe Biden is “monitoring” the situation resulting from the protests.
And in London, the British government summoned the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday after the arrest of a BBC reporter while covering protests in Shanghai.
In this moment of tension, the President of the European Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, On Tuesday night, he began an official trip to Chinawhere he will meet Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The International Monetary Fund also warned it could lower China’s economic growth forecasts, due to “covid-19 restrictions and difficulties in the real estate sector”.
AFP agency
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Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.