Faye Minton
On the night of 14 November, protests erupted in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. They were a response to tight zero-Covid policies, implemented to reduce rising case numbers.
Guangzhou, an industrial city in southern China, is home to many labourers. Reports have spread from the city that workers have struggled financially throughout the pandemic. With no right to sick pay, they have not been able to earn throughout the frequent quarantines. This, combined with their costs of living skyrocketing under restrictions, means families are suffering.
China is continuing to implement strict rules to maintain its zero-Covid goals. Three years into the pandemic, the country is still experiencing high levels of infection. On Monday, they reported 17,772 cases overall. Beijing reached its local record of 462.
“Impacting their socialisation as well as their economy.”
China’s zero-Covid policies have included requiring people entering from abroad to quarantine for ten days, and suspending the flights of airlines that brought particularly high numbers of positive passengers into the country. The rules, which have essentially closed Chinese borders, have had significant effects on people both at home and away, by impacting their socialisation as well as their economy.
Guangzhou’s Haizhu District remained under stay-at-home orders last week, when much of the country saw restrictions lighten. For example, on 11 November it was announced that travellers’ quarantines would be reduced to eight days, and airline suspensions were ceased.
“Knocked down Covid barriers and overturned a police car.”
Guangzhou’s cases reached records of 5,000 this week, ranking their rates among some of the fastest-rising in China. Residents knew their freedom remained far in the future, spurring the desire to protest.
By Monday evening, crowds had formed to march through the streets of Guangzhou. They allegedly knocked down Covid barriers and overturned a police car along the way. Footage of the chaos was shared online, and many locals expressed their fears and observations on Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform.
“Paints a picture of a fearful China.”
Some feared protests would boost Covid numbers even further, but other widespread rumours in China claim the numbers are inaccurate anyway. Unsupported stories of PCR testing companies faking positive results are gaining traction. The idea is that, if these companies can prolong the pandemic, they will remain relevant for longer and earn more profits.
Importantly, such rumours are not unique to the south. In the northern Hebei Province, where mass testing is being frozen, people fear they are being used as an experiment to see what happens if Covid is left to spread. This paints a picture of a fearful China, where trust in Covid measures is uncertain.
Experts claim that mass vaccination programmes are the only way to combat the crisis – but when fears of the virus are so widespread, the success of any attempts may be limited.
Featured image courtesy of Mufid Majnun on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
Faye Minton
Faye is a former Empoword Editor in Chief and an MA International Journalism student at Swansea University.