China's Zero Covid policy has led to Tibetans killing themselves, workers fleeing Apple factory
Calling the approach "dynamic zero", China has been enforcing a strict zero-Covid policy which involves shutting down international borders and imposing state-supervised lockdowns and containment zones. Rather than stopping the spread of the virus, this extreme approach is proving to be costly for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the sense that not only are civilians being angered by the extremely preventive curbs, but its economy is also witnessing a downfall like never before.
From infuriated Apple workers leaving factories to Tibetans jumping off buildings in containment zones, an already-chaotic country seems to be seething with even more chaos. In some regions, even one positive case can lead to the imposition of a lockdown in the entire building, residential compound, or even cities in some cases (within just hours of notice). This is leading to some areas not even receiving basic food and health supplies.
3-year-old boy dies in Lanzhou, father blames Covid workers
One of the recent events to have shocked the nation is the death of a three-year-old in the northwestern city of Lanzhou. While the boy died of an apparent carbon monoxide leak, his father has been claiming on Weibo (Chinese equivalent of Twitter) that his child could have been saved if the Covid workers would have allowed him to leave his compound to get medical assistance.
"All I want is an explanation. I want (them) to tell me directly, why wouldn’t they let me go at the time?" The father wrote on his post that got viral on Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Baidu with many sharing it to protest against "dictator" Xi Jinping.
Covid suicides in Tibet
Around late September, at least five people took their lives by jumping off buildings in Tibet's capital Lhasa and its surrounding suburbs. Such suicides were seen as a form of protest against the psychological impact of the mass-mandated quarantine sites and what they refer to as "China's inhumane Covid restrictions". The extreme censorship and personal tracking of all people (irrespective of them testing positive and negative) were added reasons.
According to a statement issued by the pro-Tibet advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet, "China’s mismanagement of Covid in Tibet reveals the extreme human costs when authoritarian police states prioritize censorship and social control over the wellbeing of the people." The blurry videos of the five suicides shocked the Tibetan and global community even as the Chinese state seems to have turned a blind eye towards such occurrences.
Visitors detained at Shanghai Disney resort
Right around the last week of October, visitors of Shanghai's Disney Resort got their own taste of Halloween after being suddenly detained in the middle of their tour. Around 11:39 am, Chinese authorities announced a lockdown of the tourist spot with all the visitors trapped inside, the only condition for them to get out being taking a Covid test. And, then again, if any of these visitors tested negative, then they would have to be taken away towards other containment zones!
In what seemed like a satirical scene, the rides were still functional for the ones trapped inside!
Workers escape Apple's largest factory in Zhengshou
The Foxconn factory is the largest Apple iPhone assembly factory, one of the many establishments of China to force workers under lockdown. Located in Henan Pronvince's capital Zhengshou, the factory supports over 2',00,000 workers. The Taiwanese multinational Foxconn which owns the factory urged the Chinese government to not impose zero Covid policy as only a few cases were detected in the area. As per multiple reports, the last week of October witnessed over 167 locally transmitted cases in Zhengshou.
As majority of iPhones are manufactured in China, the companies involved are having their own capitalistic concerns regarding the imposition of lockdowns, workers themselves feared that they would run out of a source of income in such a scenario, with many scaling the walls and fleeing from October onwards. Food shortages had already started plaguing the factory and its vicinity.
The workers worst nightmares came true on November 2 when Chinese authorities did impose the lockdown with only medical vehicles allowed to function.
With youth employment rising to 19.9% and a rapid economic decline, Chinese civilians have been voicing their concerns on social media through angsty texts and even videos criticising the government using songs like Bappi Lahiri's Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy!