(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] It's one of the biggest lockdowns
China has imposed during the pandemic.
One that looks a lot like what happened
in Wuhan two years ago when COVID-19 first emerged.
Since late December, 13 million people
in the city of Xi'an have been ordered to stay home
as a Delta variant led to an outbreak
of more than 2000 cases, a high number for China.
- They're not letting people in or out of the city,
really taking just a very aggressive approach.
- [Narrator] China has locked down
a number of cities during the pandemic,
and in early January reported its first case
of the fast spreading Omicron variant
in the city of Tianjin.
But this time, what's happening and Xi'an
has sparked a nationwide outcry online about food shortages.
Some stranded residents said on social media
that they were down to their last pack of instant noodles.
But the government says there are enough food supplies,
and the lockdown is Xi'an could also threaten
the global semiconductor shortage,
especially since the city is home
to some of the world's biggest memory chip makers.
(speaking in foreign language)
The stakes are high as China
is about to host the Winter Olympics.
And the lockdown is Xi'an is turning out to be a big test
for China's Zero-COVID Strategy.
So how strict is the lockdown in Xi'an?
When the rules first came into effect,
one person per household was allowed to go out
once every two days to buy food and other necessities.
But restrictions were tightened after a few days,
with tens of thousands send to quarantine centers,
and everyone else banned from leaving their homes
except to get a COVID test,
similar to the rules in Wuhan back in 2020.
- [Jonathan] Certainly a lot of people
are making the comparison between Wuhan and Xi'an
and we've seen as in Wuhan two years ago,
we see stories coming out through social media primarily
of families, households, people,
encountering pretty difficult circumstances.
- [Narrator] The government promised free delivery
of groceries to those stranded at home.
The many complained online saying
they received little to no supplies.
The #Xi'anGroceryShoppingIsDifficult,
was viewed more than 400 million times
on the Chinese social media platform Weibo as of January 7th
and some say the government hasn't provided
enough food since the lockdown began.
(gentle music)
(indistinct chatter)
There were also complaints about run-ins
with authorities enforcing the rules.
This video, which has been widely shared
since New Year's Eve, shows a man being beaten by guards,
with comments saying that he had gone out
to buy steamed buns.
The owner of the video couldn't be reached
and it hasn't been independently verified.
The police acknowledged the incident and said the two guards
had been punished with a seven day detention and a $30 fine.
Hospitals have been also widely criticized
on social media for not giving medical care
to some patients with non COVID conditions.
For instance, a pregnant woman said
she was denied medical attention
because of an expired COVID test.
Authorities later said they will loosen some requirements.
- But then, there are definitely people
who both within Xi'an and outside of Xi'an
are supportive of these measures.
People who look at the Chinese government response and say,
"That was the right thing to do."
- [Narrator] The lockdown is Xi'an
could also exacerbate the global shortage
of semiconductors found in the electronics we use every day.
Samsung and Micron are some
of the world's largest chip makers
and both have factories in Xi'an.
According to research from TrendForce
Samsung has two production lines in the city
that make flash memory products,
used in devices such as hard drives and cameras.
Samsung didn't give details,
but said it had to temporarily adjust operations.
Micron said the city's closure had some impact
on its output of chips,
but it was working with officials to identify solutions.
- If they need to make an adjustment
to their Xi'an operations that may mean that affects
some of their other chip operations elsewhere.
We'll have to see how big of a hit this will be.
- [Narrator] Just weeks before China is set to host
the Winter Olympics in Beijing,
health authorities confirm the first cases of Omicron
in the neighboring city of Tianjin.
And they ordered mass testing for its 14 million residents.
- You have officials everywhere,
who are looking at Xi'an's example
and who are going to be hoping that they are not subjected
to the same sort of scrutiny.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The winter Olympics
is set to begin on February 4th,
and China is allowing foreigners to enter in large numbers
for the first time since the pandemic began,
though under very strict rules,
to minimize contact with locals.
With cold temperatures increasing transmissibility
and countries around the world
reporting hundreds of thousands of daily cases,
keeping out COVID-19, is becoming more challenging.
- China already is feeling a lot of pressure
to really pull off these Olympics and make them succeed.
There's obviously also a lot of geopolitical pressure
on China right now and so, I think the best answer
that they wanna have is to say,
"We pulled off a successful Olympic"
and part of that includes containing COVID.
(people cheering)