Ten fire victims are not sensational in a country of 1.4 billion people. This time it’s different. The fire has caused things to boil over for corona-weary Chinese. This is exactly what many residents have been afraid of and warned against. They learn that the strict corona policy has become a danger to people’s lives and health. The fire in Urumqi in Xinjiang last Thursday claimed 10 lives and injured nine people. Photo: AP Cat and mouse Shortly after the fire in Urumqi in Xinjiang on Thursday, the discussion caught fire on social media. Critical Chinese always play cat and mouse with the censorship apparatus, and this time the flood was too great to be stopped. People threw themselves over the keyboard and wrote that the residents might have survived if they had been allowed to freely escape from the fire. They couldn’t do that when they were locked up, behind barricades. And why weren’t the flames extinguished before three hours had passed? Perhaps it was precisely the corona restrictions that prevented the rescue team from arriving. The authorities reject such suspicions, but say the incident will be investigated. In any case, the frustration was quickly expressed in Urumqi in Xinjiang, where many have lived with the shutdown for around 100 days. – Stop the shutdown, echoed in the crowd. The videos here will show the demonstrations in Xinjiang and the residential area in Beijing. The videos have been shared on social media across the vast country. news has verified the location of the recordings, but has not been able to time them Slag i slag Soon after, the same demands came from people in a huge residential area in Beijing. Here they kicked down the metal sheets that surrounded their homes. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse. In Shanghai, people gathered to show sympathy for the fire victims in Xinjiang, but now the message had become more political. They had white sheets with them that symbolize a lack of freedom of expression. A silent protest against authorities that have not heard their demands for a new corona policy. When the police tried to get people away, it ended in basket attacks, and greater anger among the demonstrators. Suddenly came the demands no one has dared to shout publicly: – Down with Xi Jinping. Down with the Communist Party! This is startling, because in China the open political debate is not present under President Xi Jinping. Such criticism is not tolerated. Xi demands 100 percent loyalty to complete his project of making China a modern socialist welfare nation. A man in Shanghai is removed by the police the day after demonstrations in the big city on Saturday Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP Proud Chinese A lot has changed quickly. In 2020, many Chinese were proud that China quickly and ruthlessly chased down the coronavirus. The virus did not take down very many of them, and China became the first country to get back on its feet economically. When corona ran rampant in the world outside and the hospitals there were filled to the brim, the Chinese frolicked in water parks. They went to school and work, and the only thing that was different from before was the constant temperature readings and the infection app they all had to use. The Communist Party received applause. People were happy and satisfied and wide-eyed at countries that opened up so far too soon. Then the virus came back like a boomerang, and now it had become so contagious that it was almost impossible to stop. Chinese authorities nevertheless decided to continue their zero-tolerance approach to the virus. A note on the wall in Shanghai reads: “I have not said anything”. Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP Mass testing People are mass tested and locked up. Today is. For weeks. For months. People often experience it as unreasonable madness, that millions of people have to go to the cave, even if only one person has been diagnosed with the infection, perhaps even without symptoms. Despair is rising among those who are losing their livelihood. China’s authorities believe it is important to maintain the so-called dynamic zero tolerance against Covid, and argue that it saves lives. Many of the elderly have not been willing to be vaccinated, and the health system is not equipped to receive a flood of patients. At the same time, enormous resources are used for exhausting and often daily testing of the population. People have shouted from their balconies in Shanghai that their family members and neighbors are not dying from Covid, but as a consequence of the lockdown. Patients do not get to hospital in time, and the ambulance does not arrive. The Chinese also know very well that most other people in the world have long since decided to live with the virus. This photo is said to have been taken during the demonstrations in Urumqi in Xinjiang, and is from a video shared on social media Photo: Video Obtained by Reuters / Reuters Tactics A brutal settlement with the demonstrations is a bad solution that is unlikely to be chosen. For that, the frustration has spread too far, and it would be very dangerous to make the powder keg even more flammable. China’s authorities have a well-established tactic. When a protest occurs, it is about finding the core of the problem and dealing with it quickly, so that the dissatisfaction does not spread like wildfire. This time it was probably difficult to come up with anything other than to let the protesters in Xinjiang have their way, and stop the shutdown. The announcement was that the region had got control of Covid, and that life can now return to normal. Also in the residential area in Beijing where the barricades were kicked down, they suddenly had gates open. Perhaps this reaction took the sting out of some protests, but the signal has been sent: Demonstrate, and you get what you want. It’s a message that could make it all explode. And if the protesters get exactly what they want and the shutdowns end, another problem arises. Namely, a corona wave the country is in no way prepared for. When news’s correspondent was present at a commemoration for the fire victims in Xinjiang on Sunday, a lot of police came to disperse the crowd
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A fire made it boil over for corona-weary Chinese – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
