China’s Zero Covid policy is stupid.
Sometimes, it’s even stupider than stupid.Because it has zero to do with actually fighting Covid.
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
This episode is sponsored by Incogni.
You probably know that companies are collecting your personal data. But you may not realize just
how many. Dozens, maybe hundreds—most of which you’ve never heard of. And you have no idea
what they’re doing with it. Incogni helps stop them. I’ll tell you more at the end.
So China’s zero-COVID policy has pushed society to the limit.
And that’s because so many of the Zero Covid policies are excessive,
inhumane, or just plain stupid.
A video has been going viral throughout China recently showing two girls in
Guangzhou who went outside to get their food delivery order.
They were confronted by neighborhood committee members and Covid prevention workers.
In the beginning it seemed that the reason these two girls were confronted was because
of vaccines or because one of them wasn’t wearing a mask. But then things took a very quick turn.
The girls were suddenly wrestled to the ground and then had both hands tied behind their back.
Remind me again how all of this close contact is supposed to stop the spread of Covid?
The local police reported that the “Two women, Wang and Li (both 23 years old,
from Heilongjiang) did not abide by the regulations of the epidemic prevention,
and tried to forcibly pass through the control checkpoint in Luntou Village, Haizhu District.”
“Among them, Li did not wear a mask, both of their health codes were yellow,
with no valid Covid tests since October 30.”
Hmm, though in the video it shows that the girl who *was* wearing the mask got tackled first.
This image then circulated across the Chinese internet. It shows both girls
tied up, with one of them lying on the ground.
Now you’d think most people would be up in arms about this. But if they are,
you wouldn’t know it from the heavily censored Chinese internet.
All the top comments visible on Weibo are the
ones that support the authorities for manhandling the two girls. Things like:
“#Guangzhou Police on 2 Girls Tied Up On The Ground# Tie a good knot, they deserved it!”
“Beautifully done!”
“This was well handled! Not only did the girls refuse to
wear masks but yet they had a temper. I support the public security organ!”
The main argument is that the girls were rude when they were confronted.
Which is fair. There were a lot of insults thrown around that afternoon.
And the reason they were rude might be because they’ve faced weeks or even years of unjustified
lockdowns. They’ve also faced harsh authoritarian policies like the government tracking people’s
every movement on their health app and forcing healthy people to get repeated Covid tests.
So did they show attitude? Sure. But does that justify this?
Imagine a world where you’re only allowed to say yes.
That video is of course just one of many, many examples of how Chinese authorities have
gone to extremes to implement the Zero Covid policy. I’ll tell you more after the break.
Welcome back.
China’s Zero Covid policy—and all the rules and lockdowns that have come with it—was
never about healthcare or the wellbeing of the citizens. It was always about politics.
For example, remember how Chinese authorities rolled out the QR health code system for the
sake of public safety? Citizens need to report their covid status before being allowed anywhere.
Well, authorities in some places have used it as a tracking app to thwart protesters.
Health code turns red? Now you can’t get on a train or bus to get to the protest.
Living in China sounds like a socialist paradise. In other words, it’s like sitting
in this chair while the government reassures you you’ll be fine; in fact it’s good for you!
What we’re now hearing is that China claims they will ease up on their Covid restrictions,
but still keep up with their fight against the virus.
How is this possible? It’s because even though some Chinese cities may
*say* they’ll end their lockdowns, they still implement stealth restrictions.
Stealth Restrictions are just a fancy way of saying ‘I know you didn’t get the memo,
because there was no memo! Now go to your room and stay there.’
“In Shanghai and Shenzhen, home to tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., local authorities rarely
issue announcements on school closures anymore. Parents are informed by schools verbally,
or through messaging apps, that physical classes have been suspended because of Covid curbs.”
“Authorities in Zhengzhou said a shutdown of ‘controlled areas’ ended on Tuesday,
but many locals said on social media they still couldn’t leave their neighborhoods.”
This way, *officially* there are no lockdowns, but in practice, of course, there are.
But this can only keep going for so long.
We mentioned in an episode recently how several places in China have seen huge protests,
many of them sparked by people’s pent up anger.
Just last week, Chinese citizens were in an uproar over the death of a 4-month-old baby in China.
“The girl died after suffering vomiting and diarrhea while in
quarantine at a hotel in the city of Zhengzhou.” “When medical staff arrived and the child tested
negative for Covid-19, they refused to treat her on the grounds that the case was not urgent.”
This means the medical staff believed that a positive Covid result is more
of an emergency than a 4 month old baby on the verge of death.
This wasn’t even the first baby-related tragedy to come out of strict Covid policies.
In fact it’s been an ongoing phenomenon since the very beginning of the Zero Covid lockdowns.
Some people take matters into their own hands. In one recent case this month,
a young father armed himself with a knife when getting stopped at a city checkpoint.
Listen to me, this is an emergency. My child is
only this big. We are in desperate need of baby formula. We have no money, you
understand? [beat] By now we’ve waited so long.
You can see the father is holding the knife as he explains his situation.
The police let the man go, but then later they took him into custody.
There were so many police officers surrounding him. Couldn’t at least
one go get him some baby formula while the rest figure out how to arrest him?
According to the police report on Weibo, the man was let off easy with a 100 yuan fine.
Yup! Heroes!
And then there’s this video, which reportedly happened in a county in Shaanxi. On November 21st,
a man was stopped outside under broad daylight while he was on his way to buy medicine.
Officers told him to put his hands against the wall. And he complies. But it’s not enough.
After a search confirms the man is unarmed, the guy in plain-clothes takes it a step further.
Or at least a knee further. While his knee is on the guy’s neck,
the plain-clothes guy asks why the man was outside today. To which the
man could only respond by saying his arm hurts and that he is taking medicine.
Is this unfair? Are Chinese police being too extreme?
If people think so, you probably won’t hear about it on the Chinese internet.
It’s gotten so bad that Chinese people are actually risking talking to foreign media,
like CNN. This guy lost his father when his dad collapsed during a lockdown,
and pandemic workers wouldn’t let his family drive him 5 minutes to
the hospital. An ambulance showed up an hour later. When it was too late.
“‘The local government killed my dad,’ he tells me, breaking down in tears. ‘I just want
to get justice for my dad. Why did you lock us down? Why did you take my dad’s life away?’
His 58-year-old father needed emergency medical help when their building was locked down.
He says there were no Covid cases in the building,
but China seals off entire neighborhoods, even when there are only suspected cases nearby.”
Now this is a tragic story. But it’s what this guy says
during this interview that’s really dangerous.
“Do you blame your father’s death on this country’s Zero Covid policy?”
“Yes. Very sure.”
That is a risky thing to say. Because the Chinese Communist Party’s Zero Covid policy is above
criticism. But Chinese people are getting so fed up with it, and all of the terrible consequences,
that they’re actually willing to go on camera and say it. Even though they might get arrested.
And if China’s internet is too censored, they’ll find other ways to get their message out. Because
any comments critical of Zero Covid...let’s just say those discussions have their hands tied.
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Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching China Uncensored.