Zero covid measures decrease in China, why?
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(CNN) --
It may be too soon to call it a complete victory, but the collective agitation of people across China against strict Covid-19 controls has forced a notable partial reduction by one of the most powerful governments. authoritarians of the world, and their leader, Xi Jinping.
Following nationwide protests, some local authorities in China have begun easing Covid-19 restrictions, in what appears to be a shift toward a gradual reopening as the country heads into its fourth year of the pandemic.
Since last week, more than 20 cities, including the major metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Chengdu, have removed requirements for negative Covid tests on transport, and even in other public places.
And some housing complexes now allow infected residents with special needs to self-quarantine at home, rather than being sent to a centralized quarantine.
“I feel like everyone's hard work is paying off,” said a protester taking part in a protest in Beijing.
Chinese authorities use cellphone data to track protesters
China's top health official signaled a change in strategy on Wednesday, declaring the country's pandemic controls had entered a "new stage and mission."
Xi then shared his thoughts on the issue with the visiting European Council president, according to an EU official who said the Chinese leader had acknowledged people were frustrated and suggested China was open to relaxing its rules. of covid.
It was an extraordinary contrast to Xi's resounding endorsement of the "dogged pursuit" of the zero-covid strategy at the Communist Party Congress in late October;
Back then, he made no mention of the public anger he had simmered for months, or the soaring economic and social costs of the policy he had personally endorsed.
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Just six weeks ago, Xi's authority seemed almost impregnable.
He won a groundbreaking third term in power, drove the most politically moderate leaders into early retirement and filled the new leadership with staunch loyalists, including some of the most staunch executors of his zero-covid strategy.
That image of absolute and unquestioned control was breached late last month by an explosion of dissent from fed-up residents, migrant workers and college students.
Beijing tracks protesters through phone data 2:38
In a worrying development for the party, in addition to the covid restrictions, many young protesters also directed their anger at Xi's authoritarian policies, from increasingly strict censorship to all-encompassing ideological controls, now dictating what they can watch, read, listen and shop in your private life to a degree not seen in decades.
Some demanded greater political freedoms, others condemned dictatorship and rule for life, but the boldest political challenge came from Shanghai, China's largest city and financial center, where crowds openly called for Xi to "resign" during two consecutive nights.
While China's security forces moved quickly to quell the demonstrations, growing calls for political change, unprecedented on such a scale since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, have likely prompted authorities to speed up the relaxation of The restrictions.
State media have carefully avoided any mention of the protests, instead framing the policy adjustment as following science, a development noted by a Beijing resident in a widely circulated, and later censored, Weibo post: “When you talk to him about democracy, he finally talks to you about science".
What is happening in China after the protests against the zero covid policy?
This is what you need to know
Having stoked widespread public fear of contracting and dying from covid, Chinese state media are now citing months-old research on the comparative "reduction in pathogenicity" of the omicron variant.
Some state media outlets also shared an interview with a medical expert who raised questions about prolonged covid, a stark contrast to previous coverage that highlighted the long-term risks of contracting the virus.
In China residents tear down isolation barriers 0:39
The sea change in public messaging does not go unnoticed by many Chinese who criticize the zero covid strategy.
Some shared juxtaposed screenshots of two reports from the state-run People's Daily published five months apart, one highlighting the severity of long-term covid and another with the headline: "At present, there is no evidence to show that there is the prolonged covid".
Despite the partial relaxation, many restrictions remain and, in some parts of the country, new lockdowns and travel restrictions are still imposed.
“It seems that moving away from zero-covid is more or less a decentralized process in China: while some localities are easing restrictions, some are supposedly still clinging to zero-covid, and others are waiting and watching,” wrote Yanzhong Huang, a member for world health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"Change in policy is common."
In some cities, the partial relaxation has caused confusion and chaos on the ground.
In Beijing, public places like shopping malls and office buildings still require a 48-hour negative covid test to enter.
The abrupt removal of testing kiosks in the capital has also led to long lines at the remaining testing locations.
Still, residents of major Chinese cities shared photos of test booths being pulled off the streets, celebrating what some saw as the "beginning of the end" for the zero-covid strategy.
A video shows the police mistreating a resident in China 0:38
Others are in no mood to celebrate, citing livelihoods ruined and lives lost due to draconian lockdowns.
“There will be no compensation, no apology, no discovery of the truth, just moving on.
What can block us can also easily unblock us.
Just how terrifying is this capricious power, and when will it turn your life upside down again?
I don't celebrate, I just remember those brave friends with gratitude,” a Beijing resident posted on Weibo, referring to the protesters.
"Freedom does not fall from the sky."
zero covid
