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Chinese Corona app (icon image): The authorities are accused of abuse of power
Photo: Cheng Min/Xinhua/IMAGO
In central China, the authorities have allegedly used apps to contain the corona pandemic to suppress protests.
As reported by state media, numerous disgruntled bank customers whose accounts had been frozen recently wanted to travel to the capital of Henan province.
But when they arrived in Zhengzhou, the health code on their cellphones suddenly turned red.
Internet users then accused the Chinese authorities of “abuse of power”.
China has been pursuing a strict “zero Covid strategy” since the beginning of the pandemic.
To gain access to public places and transportation, people need to scan QR codes with their smartphones.
Access is only granted if the app shows the correct color code.
People with a red code - which indicates that they are infected themselves or have had contact with an infected person - are not allowed to move freely, they have to be quarantined.
Red code despite a negative PCR test
According to state media reports, a bank customer suddenly had a red code in his Corona app when he arrived in the city, even though he had a negative PCR test result.
Another bank customer had a red code, although he said he had not left the house before.
As the state-run "Global Times" reported, red codes suddenly became green again for other affected people when they left Zhengzhou.
Critical comments piled up on Chinese online networks on Wednesday.
“A shiver ran down my spine.
Uncontrolled power is too scary," wrote a user of the Chinese Twitter counterpart Weibo.
"This is clearly abuse of power," wrote another Weibo user.
The "Global Times" also expressed sharp criticism in a comment.
The actions in Henan violated "not only social morality, but possibly also the law," wrote former editor and well-known commentator Hu Xijin.
He spoke of a "violation of pandemic prevention laws" that "undermines people's support for the fight against the virus".
Not the first outrage
The health authorities in Zhengzhou told the AFP news agency that the incidents were "under investigation".
The Global Times quoted the Henan authorities as saying that a database error could be behind the problems with the Corona apps.
The BBC reports that an official at the Zhengzhou Health Commission confirmed to her that many of the banks' customers were encountering the same problem.
"There is such a situation," she quotes the employee.
“Right now, they can only contact their community managers to request a change in their status.
After they have taken two Covid tests within three days, their status can be changed again".
China's corona apps are not criticized for the first time.
Civil rights activists have long accused the authorities of using the system to prevent protests and restrict rights.
Several opposition figures said their health codes suddenly turned red as they attempted to travel to major cities to attend trials or make representations to authorities.
bam/AFP
