China’s tough COVID-19 lockdowns are fueling 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 Haizhu district, which has been in lockdown since late last month.
The demonstrations took place in several “urban villages,” mainly poorer neighborhoods where migrant workers live, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported.
Photo: AP
The local government sent multiple police vehicles to the protests, the paper said.
Chinese residents are becoming increasingly upset after almost three years of draconian social restrictions under the country’s “zero COVID-19” policy.
Lockdowns are showing no sign of abating even as authorities ease some curbs, such as shortening the mandatory quarantine period for inbound travelers and scrapping a system where airlines are penalized 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 Sina Weibo and WeChat, two of the largest social media platforms in China, where online discussions are censored to control public opinion.
As of yesterday morning, hashtags on Weibo such as “Guangzhou Haizhu district riot” and “Haizhu riot” remained visible, but posts which could previously be seen were gone.
Guangzhou has locked down two other districts, including Panyu and Liwan, as daily infections surged to 5,124 on Monday.
Huang Kunming (黃坤明), the Chinese 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.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS