Chinese wanting to demonstrate are surprised to see their health pass suddenly turn red

Local authorities were Wednesday, June 15 in China under fire from criticism after a supposed manipulation of health passes to prevent a demonstration in the center of the country.

To discover

• LIVE - Legislative 2022: follow the negotiations the day after the first round

• Find all the results of the legislative elections

Read alsoChina tramples on press freedom in Hong Kong

SEE ALSO

- Sanitary measures in China: what impact on the world economy?

The first country hit by Covid-19 and to confine its population, China was in 2020 one of the very first to generalize the health pass to control movement, identify contact cases and isolate the sick.

Scanning a QR code with your phone and showing your credentials with an application that delivers a "

" pass, synonymous with good health, is now a well-established gesture in China and required at the entrance to a building, a trade and in most transport.

In recent days, a number of people have seen their health passes suddenly turn red (mandatory quarantine), state media reported.

Common point: all are disgruntled bank customers after an asset freeze, and who intended to express their anger in Zhengzhou, a large metropolis in central China.

Weakened by the economic slowdown, four local banks have frozen all money withdrawals since mid-April, trapping thousands of small savers.

A situation that had given rise to rare demonstrations last month.

“It is clearly an abuse of power”

Despite a negative PCR test, a customer saw his sanitary pass turn red upon arriving in Zhengzhou, reports the Chinese press.

Another had this misadventure without even leaving his home, say the media, denouncing in tune a potentially deliberate act at the local level.

Using the health pass for purposes other than the epidemic is “

” and an “

”, castigated the Global Times, an English-language daily famous for its nationalist diatribes.

When questioned, the Zhengzhou health authorities told AFP "to

", without providing further explanation.

The subject caused a stir on Wednesday in China on social networks, with tens of millions of views.

Seeing a health pass turn red for no reason "

", commented a user on Weibo, the local equivalent of Twitter.

"

," railed another.

Read alsoFaced with the coronavirus, Xi Jinping increases censorship in China

SEE ALSO

- Covid-19: Beijingers celebrate the reopening of restaurants

The vast majority of Chinese willingly lend themselves to the game of tracing to fight against the Covid and scan the health codes without batting an eyelid.

Some voices nevertheless worry about potential abuses for surveillance purposes, in a country where maintaining social stability is an obsession.