Added to the usual security measures is the movement restriction due to the Covid 0 policy so that nothing affects this conclave, which starts this Sunday
Warnings not to travel, health codes changing color on mobile, flight cancellations, lack of tickets for trains and, if one is lucky enough to reach their destination, quarantined at home or, in the worst case, in an isolation camp . The restrictions on movement due to the strict Covid 0 policy will be added to the already usual security measures ahead of the XX Congress of the Communist Party of China, which begins this Sunday in Beijing and will see the country’s Secretary General and President Xi Jinping , remains in power.
So that nothing tarnishes such a great opportunity, the Chinese capital has armored itself even more. But it hasn’t stopped a protester who, around massive guards, set fire to a ring road bridge on Thursday and put up two banners. The first was against the Covid 0 policy and the second called for the “overthrow of the dictator Xi Jinping”.
In any democracy it would be a minor incident and at most a fine. In China, the protester is missing after his arrest by police and censorship has removed all references to the event from the internet, blocking searches for words like “bridge”, “protest” or even “brave”. According to Fang Shimin, a dissident in exile who distributes videos revealing the regime’s abuses, the protester’s name is Peng Lifa, using the pseudonym Peng Zaizhou, and is a physicist from northern Heilongjiang province who sent him the same protest slogans. his Twitter account.
Aside from the low severity of the events, it is noteworthy that the protester had time to display the banners without first being arrested by the police, who have doubled their patrols on the eve of the political conclave and placed guards on all bridges. after the incident. While this is an isolated event, it is just a small sampling of the discomfort in much of Chinese society as a result of Covid 0 policies. As the rest of the world returns to normal, the regime’s restrictions are wreaking havoc not only the economy, but also the social life and mental health of many Chinese. With the XX Congress of the Communist Party, the controls have been tightened even further.
At the beginning of September, the authorities already advised the population not to travel until the end of October, once the conclave ends on the 22nd. In addition, they again recalled the current ban on leaving cities for officials, state-owned companies, teachers, university students and families with school-aged children.
Mr. Guo, a businessman from central Henan province, had a business meeting in Beijing and, after checking the flights online on his mobile, received a notification in his health code that he was unable to travel. Likewise, on social networks there are many complaints from those who wanted to travel by train to other cities and did not find tickets for sale. It was even worse for those who left Beijing during the National Day (October 1-7) and when they tried to return, saw their green health code change to yellow. Even if the mandatory PCR tests are done every two or three days, it means they can’t go back to Beijing or, if they do, they’ll be quarantined at home or in an isolation center for a week.
To the psychosis over the Covid that reigns in China, the only power that continues with its borders closed, comes the draconian security with which the regime shields its serious events. In this XX Congress of the Communist Party, Xi Jinping will break the retirement rule after two five-year terms followed by his predecessors after the death of Mao Zedong, precisely to avoid his personalist excesses. Ahead of his coronation as the most powerful Chinese president since the “Great Mate”, Xi does not want an uncontrolled outbreak of Covid to spoil his party, and local and provincial governments have doubled their movement controls.
Near Beijing, the Inner Mongolia region has enclosed entire provinces and numerous neighborhoods of major cities. “React quickly and prevent the outbreak from spreading, especially to Beijing,” Communist Party regional secretary Sun Shaocheng said. To indicate the strength of the measures to be taken, he even resorted to the Chinese proverb “kill chickens with knives to slaughter cows,” according to the South China Morning Post newspaper.
Outside the Chinese capital, the restrictions are just as extreme. While the remote Muslim region of Xinjiang is closed, thousands of tourists are stuck in popular destinations such as Xishuangbanna or the tropical island of Hainan, which cancels almost all flights to Beijing every day.
If someone comes to the capital from a risk-free area, he must do two PCR tests in three days and for a week not go to crowded places, meet friends and dine in restaurants. All as long as the Covid doesn’t spoil Xi Jinping’s coronation as the new emperor of China.
Source: La Verdad
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