BEIJING – China’s Covid-19 lockdowns are fuelling an increase in public anger, with some residents in Guangzhou, one of the country’s biggest cities, staging rare protests against the stringent rules.
In videos circulating on social media, hundreds of protesters were seen marching in the street and pushing over police barriers in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, which has been in lockdown since late October.
The demonstrations took place in several “urban villages”, mainly poorer neighbourhoods where migrant workers live, Hong Kong Economic Journal reported. The local government sent multiple police vehicles to the protests, according to the report.
Calls by Bloomberg News to Haizhu’s government office were not answered.
Chinese residents are becoming increasingly upset after almost three years of strict social restrictions under the country’s Covid-zero policy.
Lockdowns are showing no sign of abating even as the authorities ease some curbs, such as shortening the mandatory quarantine period for inbound travellers and scrapping a system where airlines are penalised for carrying infected passengers.
Food shortages and difficulty getting timely medical treatment are some of the biggest complaints lodged by those shut into their homes.
Few posts discussing the protests – deemed riots by some – could be found on Weibo and WeChat, two of the largest social media platforms in China, where online discussions are often censored to control public opinion.
As at Tuesday morning, hashtags on Weibo such as “Guangzhou Haizhu district riot” and “Haizhu riot” remained visible, but posts which could previously be seen were gone.
In Haizhu district, a notice issued by the Covid-19 control and prevention headquarters said progress had been made in the past three days after prevention and control measures were strengthened last Friday.
However, based on the latest monitoring results, the risk of virus transmission has not been completely eliminated, with the epidemic situation in the district remaining uncertain, challenging and complex, according to Haizhu’s deputy head Su Mingqing. The official tally showed that Haizhu reported 3,712 of the city’s 4,065 infections on Sunday.
Residents living in closed-loop management areas are required to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. Outside these areas, residents are required to present negative nucleic acid test results from within 24 hours before leaving the district, according to the notice.
Public transportation services and businesses will resume outside the district’s controlled areas, with secondary, primary school and kindergarten classes remaining suspended, the notice said.
Guangzhou has locked down two other districts, including Panyu and Liwan, as daily infections surged to 5,124 on Monday.
Mr Huang Kunming, communist party chief of Guangdong – the province that includes Guangzhou – ordered officials to eliminate the virus in communities “as soon as possible”, the paper reported, citing an internal meeting on Monday evening.
China reported more than 17,000 new local Covid-19 cases on Monday, the highest since late April. While Guangzhou accounts for the majority of them, the south-western megacity of Chongqing also posted a surge to 2,948 cases. State media have said that the country is adhering to Covid-zero. BLOOMBERG, CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK