Chinese police are once again fully present on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai today to prevent new coronavirus protests from arising there. Police patrol areas where demonstrations have taken place, visit people’s homes and check smartphones to see if VPN networks or the Telegram app are being used. Harsh interventions are taking place behind the scenes, says sinologist Ardi Bouwers.
Police in China have marched en masse to crack down on protests against zero-covid measures and at least one person has been arrested, according to videos posted on social media, following a demonstration of civil disobedience unprecedented since President Xi Jinping he took office ten years ago. he is come.
According to sinologist and China Circle owner Ardi Bouwers, the police are erecting barricades to make the places where the demonstrations took place inaccessible. “People who demonstrated are being called home to warn them not to protest anymore. Anyone who participated in the protests may be subject to police visits and prosecutions.”
Bouwers calls it surprising and courageous that many people were in the photo without a mask. What do you think is coming? ‘The police reacted with restraint, either out of surprise or for tactical reasons. In the background they intervene very harshly, they warn people.’
Repression
There are reports that some protesters have been questioned by telephone by the authorities after attending the rare street demonstrations in cities across the country. Videos posted on social media, which could not be independently verified, show hundreds of police officers occupying a large public square on Monday night, preventing people from assembling.
One video shows police, surrounded by a small crowd of people with smartphones in hand, making an arrest while others try to bring the detainee back. Hangzhou police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Shanghai and Beijing on Tuesday morning, police were still patrolling areas where some groups on the social media app Telegram had suggested people should gather again. Their presence Monday evening and all night meant that there were no more meetings.
There were also reports that police asked people to have their phones to check if they had virtual private networks (VPNs) and the Telegram app, which was used by protesters over the weekend. VPNs are illegal for most people in China, while the Telegram app is blocked on the Chinese internet.
Ease
A severe lockdown was in place in the regional capital of Urumqi and residents were not allowed to leave their homes for weeks. Ten people have died in an apartment block fire, the severe lockdown is said to have hampered relief efforts. The doors of the condominium would have been locked, the rescuers would have had difficulty reaching the building due to the fences that had been placed there due to the lockdown.
In the capital Beijing, the authorities have now decided to no longer fence off housing estates with infected people. It is unclear how many protesters have been arrested during protests in recent days. Observers speak of an unprecedented wave of protests for autocratic President Xi Jinping’s China.
And that is precisely why it is up to the residents, as sinologist Valerie Hoeks sees: less strict measures. “You have to imagine that for months they have been grappling with the consequences of the rules surrounding the zero-covid policy,” she says. ‘And that has a huge impact on the freedom of the individual. Many young people cannot find work for this reason, they have to work from home and therefore their world is shrinking. But access to medical care, for example, is also becoming more difficult.
express dissatisfaction
Hoeks also understands the danger of speaking his mind in China in 2022. “This is certainly not harmless, and that’s why I think it’s very brave,” he continues. ‘But we have to put that into perspective, people there aren’t as concerned as they are in the news here. And we’re talking thousands of people, but there are more than 1.4 billion Chinese living in China. The percentage of people on the street is therefore still very small.
However, easing seems to be in the works. And although BNR China expert John Boy Vossen shares Hoeks’ words, he points out that the Chinese president is very sensitive to dissatisfaction. The Communist Party will never want there to be major unrest in the country, but they number several thousand out of a population of 1.4 billion. That puts it in some perspective.’
Vossen continues: “However, that does not mean that more people are no longer dissatisfied with the zero-covid policy, and Jinping and the Communist Party are well aware of this. So what you see is that they’re actively looking for options to ensure that dissatisfaction is somehow addressed so that people can agree.’
The reins are tight again
Chinese police are once again fully present on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai today to prevent new coronavirus protests from arising there. Police are patrolling areas suggested by social media app Telegram to protest again, according to Reuters. People in those areas are asked to show their smartphone so we can verify that they are not using VPN networks or the Telegram app. Censorship on social media – around anything related to the protests – has also been stepped up
In Hangzhou, police officers occupied a large square last night so that people could not gather there.
The People’s Daily – the party newspaper of the Communist Party – calls on Chinese people to support the zero-covid policy and show perseverance in a commentary. The unprecedented protests last weekend (demanding the ouster of President Xi and the entire party leadership) are not mentioned in the article.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
