Before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Hong Kong 01 issued an article "Twenty Task List｜"Tacitus Trap" is not alarmist", which wrote, "In the third year of the new crown pneumonia epidemic today, the "Tacitus Trap" is no longer Alarmist talk is a real challenge for the CCP in the next five years. How to continuously enhance the mutual trust between the government and the people and enhance the credibility of the government will not only determine whether the CCP can overcome the "Tacitus Trap", but also determine the future destiny of the CCP and China."
After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the outside world has high hopes for China to adjust its epidemic prevention policy according to the time and situation.
On the one hand, on November 11, the comprehensive team of the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia issued the “Notice on Further Optimizing the Prevention and Control Measures of New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control in a Scientific and Accurate Way”, which is referred to as “20 The "measures" is the most attention-grabbing adjustment to China's epidemic prevention policy since the outbreak, and it is also a decision made by the Standing Committee of the Politburo; Wearing a mask is seen by the public under the intensive reports of the official media.
When the "20 measures" and "Xi Jinping does not wear a mask during foreign visits" happened almost at the same time, people have enough understanding to believe that China's strict epidemic prevention and control policy that has been maintained for nearly three years is really about to change.
On November 14, 2022, Xi Jinping and Biden met in Bali, Indonesia.
(AP)
However, with the surge of local cases in various places, the 20 measures did not promote the relaxation of China's epidemic prevention policy.
For example, Shijiazhuang, which took the lead in canceling the nucleic acid inspection, issued an announcement on November 20 stating that all staff in multiple districts in the city will conduct nucleic acid testing for 5 days, and do not go out unless necessary.
As the capital, Beijing has also shortened the validity period of nucleic acid entering public places from 72 hours to 48 hours, and many districts such as Chaoyang District and Daxing District have been sealed off. "Further reducing the rate of post-employment" has become a matter repeatedly advocated and requested by the press conference .
When the adjustment of China's epidemic prevention policy could not be seen, a fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang completely ignited people's anger.
On November 24, a fire broke out in a residential building in Jixiangyuan Community, Tianshan District, Urumqi City, killing 10 people and injuring 9 others.
After the fire broke out, a large number of short videos, photos, and self-media articles began to circulate on the Internet. It was believed that the fire was caused by the long-term blockade and excessive epidemic prevention. The piles and fences in the community hindered the timely rescue of fire trucks.
On November 25, the local police also notified a case of "spreading rumors on the Internet", which was caused by spreading false information about the death toll of a fire accident in a WeChat group.
In the early hours of that night, Urumqi held a press conference, denying all the rumors on the Internet, pointing out that "there is no problem of wire binding in the community, and the doors of all residents and units in the building are not closed. The picture posted on the Internet that the floor doors are tied with wire is Misplacement and malicious splicing”; “The community where the incident occurred has been reduced from a high-risk area to a low-risk area”, and “lifting railings and fences are all set up on a daily basis.”
In addition, the press conference also mentioned that the residents' self-help ability is weak.
Demonstrations in Urumqi, Xinjiang.
(video screenshot)
On the morning of the 26th, the Information Office of the Urumqi Municipal People's Government held a press conference on the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, announcing that the epidemic prevention and control work has achieved major phased results, and the goal of basically zeroing out the social situation has been achieved.
In the afternoon of the same day, "Xinjiang Daily" published "Four Questions about the Fire in Urumqi City", which responded to the issues of general concern to the public one by one.
But obviously, no matter whether it is the news conference on the fire or the epidemic, as well as the four questions of "Xinjiang Daily", they are no longer enough to calm people's grief and dissatisfaction. "We don't believe it" has become a consensus that pervades the Internet.
Simultaneously with a series of actions by Xinjiang officials, there are civil rights protection actions one after another.
On the evening of the 25th, videos circulated on the Internet showed that different numbers of people gathered in Xinjiang, Beijing and other places to protest, demanding "unblocking" and implementing "people first" and "serving the people."
The situation continued until the 26th. Residents in several communities in Beijing demanded that non-administrative neighborhood committees unblock low-risk communities, using the "Nine Do's" and "20 Measures" as evidence.
After a struggle, many communities followed suit, and many places were allowed to unblock.
Simultaneously with the unblocking of various districts in Beijing through rights protection demands, there are mourning and reflections on the victims of the fire from various university systems and Shanghai and other places.
According to online news, students at Nanjing Institute of Communication, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Nanjing Forestry University, and Sichuan Film and Television Academy held placards and posted slogans to express demands for a return to normal life or to encourage people to wake up.
On Urumqi Middle Road in Shanghai, people laid flowers one after another to express their condolences and condolences.
On the evening of the 27th, the mourning activities in Shanghai turned into more direct appeals. As the situation expanded, the authorities dispatched police forces to disperse the crowd. However, people’s anger was still stagnant and could not be calmed down.
People in Shanghai spontaneously mourned the victims of the fire.
(Web image)
Whether rights protection and protests in various places will force China to change its anti-epidemic policy is still unknown, but what is certain is that after three years of continuous and strict "dynamic clearing" epidemic prevention and control, as well as extreme practices of silence and closure of cities at every turn, people His patience has reached its limit. As an excellent student in the early stage of the epidemic, China sleepwalked into the "Tacitus Trap" three years later. No amount of official explanations and guidance can only be exchanged for "We don't believe it." ".
Especially when people saw the gathering of tens of thousands of people at the World Cup in Qatar, and then looked back at the scenes that happened in their own country, after the comparison, they felt a sense of absurdity.
As early as 2014, President Xi Jinping issued a warning at the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the Lankao County Party Committee in Henan Province, "The ancient Roman historian Tacitus put forward a theory that when the public power loses credibility, no matter what it says or does Everything will be judged negatively by the society. This is the "Tacitus Trap". Of course we have not reached this point, but the existing problems are not insignificant, and we must work hard to solve them. If that day really comes , it will endanger the party’s ruling foundation and status.” As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the “Tacitus Trap” is not only not alarmist, but under the abnormal state of epidemic prevention, the CCP has actually fallen into it.
The only feasible solution now is for the government to lower its profile, listen to the voices of the people, let the data speak for itself, let science speak for itself, shift from the government's bottom-line epidemic prevention to the public as the first responsible person, adjust the epidemic prevention policy in a timely manner, and let people return to normal life as soon as possible.
The development achievements and stable situation that China has achieved since the reform and opening up have not been easy, and all parties should cherish it. The epidemic will eventually pass, but the Communist Party of China and China should not stop there.
Urumqi, which has been silent for more than 100 days: Why do you have to wait until the fire to think of lifting the blockade Urumqi residential building fire: when will the secondary disaster under excessive epidemic prevention stop? Toxicity has long been different from three years ago. It is more and more important to eliminate the panic of the people. "Aren't they living on the same planet as the Chinese?"