People look out from fences around the recently-locked Haizhu district in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, southern China, Friday, November 11, 2022.
AP
hide captions
switch captions
AP
People look out from fences around the recently-locked Haizhu district in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, southern China, Friday, November 11, 2022.
AP
Frustrated residents in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou smashed makeshift barriers and marched through the streets to rebel earlier this week against strict COVID-19 control measures. Follow the online videos and reports.
The violence comes just weeks before the three-year anniversary of the arrival of COVID-19 next month — and as China continues to follow a hardline policy that has largely closed its borders and led to mass blockades and restrictions. travel restrictions, affecting hundreds of millions of people across China. nation.
Last week the central government announced measures to begin easing the so-called “dynamic no COVID” policyhas taken a toll on the economy and affected public patience and confidence in policymaking.
But the number of cases is skyrocketing, presenting Beijing with a challenge.
Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub of about 19 million people, reported more than 6,200 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The city has imposed a mandatory blockade over large areas of the town, causing unrest.
Online video shows people in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, largely inhabited by factory workers, tearing down barricades erected to blockade neighborhoods.
NEW – People in the Chinese city of Guangzhou break down COVID barriers.pic.twitter.com/M28Rw63APC
– Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 14, 2022
NPR cannot independently verify the video.
A witness who lives nearby said parts of the area had been locked down for about a month and tensions were growing.
“The population is under strain. Staples may be off-limits for some. I’ve heard a lot of screams for many nights,” she said.
When contacted by phone, the Haizhu district government was not immediately available for comment.
Guangzhou is not the first to explode with frustration over COVID control measures.
In Shanghai in the spring, the government imposed a two-month blockade, causing conflict with authorities. And earlier this month, there was report violence in Northeast China.
The arbitrary and unpredictable nature of blockades, restrictions on individual liberties and lack of transparency have also had other wide-ranging effects.
Last month, many workers at a giant factory in central China that made iPhones fled after the facility was closed. apple later warning that iPhone deliveries will be affected by COVID restrictions.
Government reports data on Tuesday indicates that the closures are affecting consumption and factory operations. China is widely expected to fall short of its GDP growth target, which the government has announced this year as “about 5.5%”, in part due to coronavirus control measures.
As is customary for topics deemed politically sensitive, state media are silent about the unrest in Guangzhou, while posts and pictures of the protests are blocked or deleted on social media. festival.
(Aowen Cao contributed research from Beijing.)
