Covid-19: China prepares to step up crackdown on protests against lockdowns

Chinese public safety officials are planning to step up the crackdown on what they call “enemy forces”, a series of popular protests against strict rules to contain COVID-19. Weekend demonstrations began in many cities of China.

This Tuesday (29/11) the police rounded up the spots where protests have taken place in the last days.

According to some protesters, the police contacted them to find out their whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the country’s health officials say quarantine rules need to be “quickly implemented and relaxed”.

China has recorded a record number of new covid-19 cases in recent days.

The country is the only major economy in the world with a “covid zero” policy – local authorities are implementing mass testing, quarantines and short-term lockdowns in areas with minor disease outbreaks.

‘Sabotage by enemy forces’

Over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets to demand the removal of the most restrictive measures. some even hold rare demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Xi Jinping, who was re-elected to a third five-year term in October.

But strong police crackdown in China’s major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, seems to have quelled further protests in the days that followed.

The Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which oversees law enforcement throughout China, said it was “in accordance with the law to suppress the infiltration and sabotage activities of hostile forces.”

A statement by China’s Xinhua news agency made no explicit mention of the latest demonstrations, which began Thursday after 10 people were killed in a building fire in Urumqi, in western China.

Although officials deny this, residents believe the covid restrictions have contributed to the deaths.

On Tuesday, multiple police officers patrolled areas of Beijing and Shanghai, where demonstrations took place over the weekend.

It was also reported that around 150 police officers appeared in a busy shopping district in the southern city of Shenzhen, following rumors of a protest circulating on social media.

Also Tuesday, Chinese health officials said they were working to reduce the “inconveniences” caused by the Covid pandemic.

Mi Feng, spokesperson for China’s National Health Commission (NHC), told reporters that movement restrictions “must be quickly introduced and eased” and “over-control measures need to be continually corrected.”

Health officials have previously called for more targeted action against Covid, saying complaints about tighter restrictions are the result of “arbitrary” local practices rather than national guidelines.

In Southern Guangdong Province, authorities have announced changes that allow people with Covid to be quarantined at home rather than admitted to local government facilities.

Earlier this week, the UK government summoned China’s ambassador to the country for a meeting after BBC reporter Ed Lawrence was beaten and arrested while covering protests against government restrictions on Sunday.

– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63802121.