A senior Communist Party official was quoted as saying that mass testing and strict lockdowns would continue for the next five years, prompting fear and concern from residents. However, censors immediately scrubbed out any mentions of the comment
A man has his throat swabbed for a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing. AP
Residents across Beijing were left in a state of dread after a senior Communist Party official was quoted by state media as saying that the strict ‘zero-COVID’ policy would continue “for the next five years,” in an effort to control the outbreak of coronavirus.
What exactly was said, why has it created such a flutter and does ‘zero-COVID’ really help in controlling the virus from spreading. We answer these questions and more.
Row over ‘zero-COVID’ policy
On Monday, Beijing Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper for the Chinese capital, quoted city’s party chief, Cai Qi as saying: “In the next five years, Beijing will unremittingly grasp the normalisation of epidemic prevention and control.”
The comment was quickly republished by other state media outlets and also appeared across social media platforms, with citizens voicing their concern and fears.
“Countdown to escape China,” said one Weibo user, while another noted, “The ultimate goal of fighting the epidemic is to return to normal life, and it seems that everyone has forgotten about this.”
A third user reflected the hopelessness they were experiencing after the comment: “”For the next five years…what is the point of being alive even.”
However, the state censors kicked into gear quickly enough and the quote, which first showed up in Beijing Daily, was removed, describing it as an “editing error”.
Weibo, which is China’s equivalent of Twitter, has since banned the hashtag ‘for the next five years’.
Workers in protective clothing walk by locked down retail shops as they head to take coronavirus sample from residents who have been under home quarantine as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing. AP
What is China’s zero-COVID strategy?
The zero-COVID policy adopted by China has seen cities being placed under the strictest of lockdowns, even if just a handful of cases are reported.
For instance, the city of Xi’an, home of the famed Terracotta Warriors, was shut down in December 2021 after 150 cases were reported, forcing its 13 million residents indoors. Another extreme incident would be when the city of Zhengzhou was put in lockdown where all residents were tested after just 11 cases.
Strict measures were put into place — from mass testing to lockdowns, and even extensive quarantines. Under this policy, people in China were forbidden from leaving their buildings or confined to their rooms if they are deemed high-risk contacts.
Supermarkets and malls resembled ghost towns as residents weren’t allowed to step out of their homes. Residents were left without food and medicines amid these quarantines and lockdowns.
Videos of harassed residents made their way, describing their plight. Videos of locked-up residents chanting “we want food” and “we want freedom” found their way on social media.
WHO’s concerns
The strictest of lockdowns prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) in May to say that China should rethink its strict COVID strategy.
The WHO said that the policy wasn’t ‘sustainable’. “When we talk about the zero-Covid strategy, we don’t think that it’s sustainable, considering the behaviour of the virus now and what we anticipate in the future,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said.
“We have discussed about this issue with Chinese experts and we indicated that the approach will not be sustainable. “Transiting into another strategy will be very important.”
The zero-COVID policy winded an economy which just months ago had been bouncing back from the pandemic.
“We need to balance the control measures against the impact they have on society, the impact they have on the economy, and that’s not always an easy calibration,” said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan.
He said any measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic should show “due respect to individual and human rights”.
China stands firm
Despite the criticism from WHO and countries across the West for tamping down on human rights under the COVID garb, China has refused to budge on most elements of its policy.
It continues to be the last big economic power still following the zero-COVID policy.
Only last Sunday, Shanghai recorded zero coronavirus cases for the first time since March.
With inputs from agencies
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