China has a nationwide health code system
They started it to control Covid
But they’re using it to control people
And now it’s here to stay
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
The Chinese Communist Party is no quitter.
At least when it comes to their zero Covid policy.
Which the Party is now calling societal zero Covid, or dynamic zero Covid.
Which means it’s not zero Covid.
Because true zero Covid is impossible.
Just like Communism.
But as criticism over the Chinese regime’s Covid policies has increased, state-run media
have once again said China is sticking to their dynamic zero-Covid guns.
In fact, earlier this week, another city went into lockdown as Omicron cases spread.
At least they announced it this time, unlike last month’s secret lockdown of Xiong’an,
China’s city of the future.
Maybe that’s because Xiong’an is Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s pet project, and admitting
it had to be locked down due to a Covid outbreak would have been a political problem for both
local officials and Xi Jinping.
But no, that can’t be right.
Chinese officials would never cover up a Covid outbreak for political reasons.
Which is why we should all believe China’s Covid numbers are totally accurate.
The Chinese Communist Party’s approach to Covid has always been political.
But it’s not just about lockdowns.
It’s also about implementing even more control over Chinese people.
And those Covid controls will outlast the virus.
You have to hand it to the Communist Party.
They really focus on what they’re good at.
Repressing people isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle.
Take China’s nationwide Covid health tracking system.
People sign up for a health code through one of several mobile phone apps.
It’s a QR code that looks like this.
Without the health code, you can’t enter buildings, restaurants, public transportation,
or even parks.
The QR code turns green, yellow, or red depending on the person’s risk level.
Once your health code turns from green to yellow or red, your movements will be restricted.
In some cases, you’ll be required to either self quarantine, or be sent to a quarantine
facility.
Whether your code is green, yellow, or red is supposed to be based on your possible exposure
risk to Covid.
But it’s not always that straightforward.
“A state-run news outlet this month published an analysis of each province’s criteria
for a health code to turn from green to yellow.
It concluded that, for most provinces, the answer was unclear.”
Sometimes the restrictions are completely ridiculous.
Like when authorities decided that people were close contacts if their cellphone signal
was within a half mile of an infected person.
But it can get even more extreme than that.
Remember last month when China claimed an Omicron outbreak in Beijing came from Canadian
mail?
Which is obviously not true.
Look, the worst thing you could possibly get from Canadian mail is a maple syrup-coated
hockey puck.
Don’t ask.
Anyway, after the government’s claims that Omicron came through international mail, people
who received international packages had their health codes turn yellow.
Imagine not being able to leave your home for 14 days because someone sent you a maple
syrup-coated hockey puck.
But wait, there’s more.
A Reuters correspondent said he had an acquaintance who ended up in a quarantine hotel because
she happened to bike past a supermarket at the exact moment a person who later tested
positive for Covid walked out of the store.
At this rate China is going to start quarantining people if they have contact with an infected
person over Zoom.
What if the virus can travel through the Internet tubes?
Better safe than sorry.
How are people in China dealing with the health codes?
I’ll tell you after the break.
Welcome back.
The Chinese Communist Party has been using health codes to monitor and track Chinese
people for almost two years now.
It seems like most people have been supportive.
But, we’re probably not hearing much from the people who aren’t supportive, because
that seems like a great way to have your health code suddenly turn red.
Forever.
According to a Chinese blogger who has written about health codes and privacy, most people
have made a mental trade-off of giving up some of their rights for absolute security.
Which always works out great.
But even in China, people have raised concerns about data privacy with the health codes.
Especially after reports that some cities want to make the health tracking apps permanent.
Chinese authorities responded to these privacy concerns by issuing regulations to make sure
the Chinese tech companies operating these apps respect people’s privacy.
Which is like the head of the mob telling you he’ll make sure your restaurant is safe…for
a price.
The price is that these health tracking systems share information with the Chinese police.
And not just the police.
For this high-tech health tracking system to work, the Chinese Communist Party also
needs an army of millions to enforce their zero Covid policy.
And for that army, the Communist Party has gone back to its roots.
It uses what’s called a grid management system.
“Under the grid management system, cities, villages and towns are divided into sections,
sometimes of just a few blocks, which are then assigned to individual workers.”
These grid workers then monitor everyone who lives in their section of the grid.
It’s similar to how Chairman Mao used neighborhood committees to monitor and control people during
the Cultural Revolution.
And now these millions of grid workers are getting a little extra help when it comes
to spying on people.
“The central government has directed the police, as well as internet and telephone
companies, to share information about residents’ travel history with community workers so that
the workers can decide whether residents are considered high-risk.”
It is possible to not use a health code app in China.
But then your movements would be heavily restricted.
“Zan Aizong, a former journalist in Hangzhou…has refused to use the health code, but it means
moving around is difficult, and he finds it hard to explain his reasoning to workers at
checkpoints.”
I mean, why wouldn’t you want the Chinese Communist Party to be able to track your every
move?
If you’re worried about it, that obviously means you’ve done something wrong that you’re
trying to hide.
Like receiving Canadian mail.
That’s how Chinese authorities see it, at least.
More after the break.
Welcome back.
Now it may have occurred to those of you watching this that an opaque system run by an authoritarian
regime using technology to spy on people and control their movements might be ripe for
abuse.
You would be right.
And the Chinese Communist Party has already used the health code app against the lowest
scum in society: human rights activists.
Xie Yang is a human rights lawyer.
Back in November, Xie wanted to travel to Shanghai to visit the mother of a Chinese
dissident.
Police warned him not to go.
Xie tried to go anyway.
His health code was green, and there were no Covid cases in his city.
Then after police tried to stop him, his health code turned red.
He successfully resisted being put into quarantine, but he was stopped from traveling.
And last month, Xie was detained for inciting subversion.
Wang Yu is another well-known human rights lawyer.
She says Chinese authorities have tried to use the health code app to stop her from working.
When she tried to enter Beijing last November, her health code app made it look like she
was coming from a city with a Covid outbreak, even though she wasn’t.
That would have blocked her from entering Beijing.
“In the past, security officers had to physically follow her to interfere with her work.
Now, [Wang Yu] worries, they can restrict her movements from afar.”
It’s no coincidence that both of these cases happened back in November.
That was when there was a big Communist Party meeting in Beijing.
That’s when authorities are always more worried about controlling Chinese dissidents.
And now, there’s an app for that!
Ultimately, China’s health code system isn’t about controlling the coronavirus.
It’s about controlling people.
And that’s what makes it so dangerous.
Now it’s time for me to answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50-cent
army.
A fan who supports the show on the crowdfunding website Patreon or the exclusive social media
community Locals.
Genghis16 asks on Locals: “What's happening now with Evergrande.
A few months ago it was supposed to fail starting the house of cards collapse.
Haven't heard much about it lately.
Do you guys have anything to add on it now?”
Well Genghis, Evergrande has not failed.
But it’s not doing well.
The real estate giant is facing over 300 billion dollars of debt.
And while they’ve started to pay some domestic creditors, they’re defaulting on their foreign
creditors.
Some of whom have threatened to sue.
So now Evergrande is asking for more time, and warning that if creditors do sue, it could
lead to bad consequences.
How bad is it?
Well the company’s chairman has been selling off his personal assets to keep Evergrande
afloat.
But it looks like the Chinese regime is also trying to keep Evergrande afloat by helping
the company restructure its debt.
The Chinese Communist Party will do whatever it can to save the real estate market, because
so many Chinese people have their money there.
If it did collapse, it could lead to protests across the country.
But they’ve got their work cut out for them.
There’s a ton of bad debt in these huge companies, and Evergrande isn’t the only
one facing problems.
It’s too soon to say what will happen, Genghis.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for your question, and thank you for supporting China Uncensored on Locals.
If you’d like to join us on the exclusive social media platform Locals, come check it
out at chinauncensored.locals.com.
It’s free to join, and we have content that’s just for Locals, like livestreams and other
behind the scenes videos.
Speaking of livestreams, we’re doing a Locals live stream this Friday.
Be there or be square.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.