GD's Political Animal: Asia

Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts

Monday, January 29, 2024

Eight countries defund UN's Palestine aid agency

The U.S. Germany, the UK, Finland, Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have paused funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Paletsinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), following reports that UNRWA staff were involved in October's terrorist attack on Israel.

Eight countries join U.S. in pausing funding to UN aid agency in Gaza | Axios | Barak Ravid:

January 27, 2024 - "Germany, Canada, the U.K., and six other Western nations have joined the U.S. in pausing funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency after Israel alleged 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack..... UNRWA has fired the accused staffers and launched an investigation. The head of UNRWA warned on Saturday that 'lifesaving assistance is about to end' due to nine countries' decision to suspend funding....

"A senior Israeli official said the Shin Bet and Israeli military intelligence provided information that pointed to the active participation of UNRWA staffers and the use of the agency's vehicles and facilities during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. 'This was strong and corroborated intelligence,' the official said. 'A lot of the intelligence is a result of interrogations of militants who were arrested during the Oct. 7 attack.'

"The U.S. on Friday became the first country to pause its funding to UNRWA over the allegations. It was the first step by the Biden administration against UNRWA since renewing U.S. funding to the agency after the Trump administration completely cut it off. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the ... the administration has 'temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.'

"Germany, UNRWA's second-largest donor, joined the U.S. in pausing funding on Saturday. The U.K., Finland, Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland also temporarily suspended their funding....

[UNRWA chief Philippe] Lazzarini said on Friday he terminated the contracts of the accused staff members and launched an investigation .... 'Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution," Lazzarini said.... The UN will conduct an 'urgent and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA,' Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said on Friday. Guterres ... has also asked Lazzarini to 'investigate this matter swiftly and to ensure that any UNRWA employee shown to have participated or abetted what transpired on 7 October, or in any other criminal activity, be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution,' he added.

"Miller said Secretary of State Tony Blinken spoke to Guterres on Thursday.... Miller welcomed the UN's announcement of a comprehensive and independent review of UNRWA.... 'UNRWA plays a critical role in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians, including essential food, medicine, shelter, and other vital humanitarian support,' Miller added. 'Their work has saved lives, and it is important that UNRWA address these allegations and take any appropriate corrective measures, including reviewing its existing policies and procedures.'

"Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday thanked the Biden administration for 'taking an important step in holding UNRWA accountable.... Terrorism under the guise of humanitarian work is a disgrace to the UN and the principles it claims to represent," he added."

Why are some countries suspending funding from the UNRWA? | Analyst explains | CTV News | January 29, 2024:

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Israeli gov't letting citizens arm themselves

In the wake of last weekend's terrorist attacks, Israel's National Security Minister has "directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation, in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves."

Israel Eases Guns Restrictions Amidst Security Failures | Reason | J.D. Tuccille:

October 13, 2023 - "In the wake of the Hamas terrorist organization's murderous attacks on Israel, the country's government is admitting — not for the first time — that even Israel's extensive security apparatus can't be everywhere to protect everyone. Under the pressure of bloody events, officials are again making it easier for civilians to acquire and carry firearms for self-defense. 'Today I directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation, in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves," announced National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. 'The plan will take effect within 24 hours.'

"By no means does the order eliminate the country's tight restrictions on guns. But it's an acknowledgment that too many Israelis were caught with limited access to the means of self-defense when Hamas terrorists crossed the border from Gaza and attacked civilians.... Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were caught flat-footed and scrambled to catch up with events.

"This is actually the second time this year that Israel's government loosened gun rules in response to attacks on the public. 'Israel's security cabinet has approved measures to make it easier for Israelis to carry guns after two separate attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem over the past two days,' the BBC reported in January. That followed an earlier reform allowing more civilians to carry defensive weapons in 2018. 'Trained citizens who hold weapons in the public sphere contribute to the feeling of security,' then-Security Minister Gilad Erdan said at the time. 'They are an important line of defense against "lone wolf" actions and are used in a sense as a temporary force multiplier, thereby strengthening public safety.'

"As sophisticated as Israel's security apparatus is, it's not omnipotent. The failures of intelligence services and military forces have led to recrimination and will undoubtedly result in changes. But human institutions are flawed and even the best are vulnerable to enemies capable of probing for weaknesses and planning around them. That's an ongoing problem for officials challenged with protecting the public from criminals and terrorists. Then-Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble wrestled with that dilemma after a 2013 terrorist attack at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya. 'Societies have to think about how they're going to approach the problem,' Noble told ABC News. 'One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that.... You have to ask yourself, "Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat of terrorism?" This is something that has to be discussed,' Noble added.

"Israel is making a choice now after Hamas terrorists penetrated the 'extraordinary security' around Gaza with explosives, boats, and paragliders. With that barrier penetrated, too many Israelis proved to be soft targets for assailants who butchered their way through communities.

"Ukraine made similar choices after Russia invaded at the beginning of 2022, putting many civilians on the front lines in their own homes. 'We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country,' President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced. 'Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities.' Ukrainians anticipated that necessity, flocking to arm themselves in the days before Russian troops crossed the border.... Polling later found that 58 percent of Ukrainians supported wider civilian gun ownership....

"The hard truth is, no matter how well-funded and trained law enforcement agencies and military forces may be, they're imperfect. The only people guaranteed to be at the site of any attack are the perpetrators and those positioned to be either victims or survivors. If those people don't have the means to defend themselves and are stuck waiting for rescue, they're more likely to be relegated to the victim category than to emerge as survivors....

"Best wishes to the people of Israel, and elsewhere, who have suffered threats in the past, face them now, and will experience them in the future. All people have an absolute right to defend themselves and that right, and access to the means to exercise it, should be respected by law everywhere."

Israel Now Wants As Many Citizens Armed As Possible Reversing Their Strict Gun Control | Colion Noir | October 10, 2023:

Thursday, June 15, 2023

'Devastating' starvation reported in North Korea

Interviews with residents suggest that a 'devastating tragedy' of starvation is unfolding in North Korea.

North Korea: Residents tell BBC of neighbours starving to death | BBC News | Jean Mackenzie:

June 14, 2023 - "People in North Korea have told the BBC food is so scarce their neighbours have starved to death. Exclusive interviews gathered inside the world's most isolated state suggest the situation is the worst it has been since the 1990s.... The government sealed its borders in 2020, cutting off vital supplies. It has also tightened control over people's lives, our interviewees say. Pyongyang told the BBC it has always prioritised its citizens' interests.

"The BBC has secretly interviewed three ordinary people in North Korea, with the help of the organisation Daily NK which operates a network of sources in the country. They told us that since the border closure, they are afraid they will either starve to death or be executed for flouting the rules. It is extremely rare to hear from people living in North Korea. The interviews reveal a 'devastating tragedy is unfolding' in the country, said Sokeel Park from Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), which supports North Korean escapees.

"One woman living in the capital Pyongyang told us she knew a family of three who had starved to death at home. 'We knocked on their door to give them water, but nobody answered,' Ji Yeon said. When the authorities went inside, they found them dead, she said. Ji Yeon's name has been changed to protect her, along with those of the others we interviewed.

"A construction worker who lives near the Chinese border ... told us food supplies were so low that five people in his village had already died from starvation. 'At first, I was afraid of dying from Covid, but then I began to worry about starving to death,' he said.

"North Korea has never been able to produce enough food for its 26 million people. When it shut its border in January 2020, authorities stopped importing grain from China, as well as the fertilisers and machinery needed to grow food. Meanwhile, they have fortified the border with fences, while reportedly ordering guards to shoot anyone trying to cross. This has made it nearly impossible for people to smuggle in food to sell at the unofficial markets, where most North Koreans shop.

"A market trader from the north of the country ... told us that almost three quarters of the products in her local market used to come from China, but that it was 'empty now'. She, like others who make their living selling goods smuggled across the border, has seen most of her income disappear. She told us her family has never had so little to eat, and that recently people had been knocking on her door asking for food because they were so hungry.

"From Pyongyang, Ji Yeon told us she had heard of people who had killed themselves at home or disappeared into the mountains to die, because they could no longer make a living. She was struggling to feed her children, she said. Once, she went two days without eating and thought she was going to die in her sleep.

"In the late 1990s, North Korea experienced a devastating famine which killed as many as three million people. Recent rumours of starvation, which these interviews corroborate, have prompted fears the country could be on the brink of another catastrophe."

North Koreans tell BBC of neighbours starving to death | BBC News | June 14, 2023:

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Indonesia gov't bans sex outside marriage

The parliament of Indonesia has unanimously passed a revised Criminal Code that makes sex outside marriage punishable by up to a year in prison (and insulting the president punishable by up to three years).

Indonesia passes new criminal code, outlaws sex outside marriage | Al Jazeera:

Dec 6, 2022 - "Indonesia has passed a controversial new Criminal Code that includes outlawing sex outside marriage and cohabitation, in changes that critics contend could undermine freedoms in the Southeast Asian nation. The new laws apply to Indonesians and foreigners and also restore a ban on insulting the president, state institutions or Indonesia’s national ideology known as Pancasila.

"The new criminal code, which was approved unanimously by parliament on Tuesday, replaces a framework that had been in use since independence in 1946 and was a mix of Dutch law, customary law known as hukum adat, and modern Indonesian law.... The planned code sparked nationwide student-led protests when a full draft was released in September 2019, amid fears it would curtail personal freedoms. At least 300 people were hurt in the unrest which was also fuelled by concerns that new laws would undermine the fight against corruption. Subsequent revisions have not been released in full.

"The new code must still be signed by the president, according to Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights Edward Hiariej. It will also not apply immediately, with the transition from the old code to the new one expected to take a maximum of three years.

"A copy of the new code seen by the Associated Press showed that the charge of insult to a sitting president carries a prison term of as long as three years. Hiariej said the government provided 'the strictest possible explanation that distinguishes between insults and criticism.'

"Sex before marriage was not illegal in Indonesia before the code was passed, although adultery was. Under the new law, parents or children will be able to report unmarried couples to the police if they suspect them of having sex — something that critics have said is a move towards moral policing and could also be used to target members of the LGBTQ community. Both sex before marriage and adultery will be punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine under the code. Cohabitation will be punishable by six months in prison or a fine, although only if reported to the police by parents, children, or a spouse....

"The criminal code can be challenged in the Constitutional Court if it is considered that the correct procedure was not followed before it was passed, including seeking relevant and transparent public participation. Labour unions have used that approach to challenge the Jobs Creation Law, which was passed in October 2020 and deemed 'unconstitutional' a year later. The government has been given two years to fix that legislation or risk it becoming permanently invalid."

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

No, Iran has not abolished its morality police

What Western media got wrong by claiming Iran abolished its morality police | CBC News - Nahayat Tizhoosh:

December 5, 2022 - "Over the weekend, news spread in numerous reputable media outlets that the Islamic Republic of Iran had dismantled its controversial morality police. Wikipedia even changed its entry, with the edited text suggesting the force had officially been disbanded. But these reports all rested on a vague statement made by one Iranian official, one who in the same breath said his department is not responsible for the morality police. Not only is it unconfirmed that the morality police have been disbanded, but statements by officials since have made it clear that sharia law — and its restrictions on women's dress — will continue to be enforced.

"The morality police came under the scrutiny of Western media as of Sept. 16, the day 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died after being detained by officers for not wearing her hijab properly. The circumstances of Amini's death, and the force's involvement, have since triggered protests against the police and the Iranian regime that have swept across the country and the world.

"On Sunday, multiple credible media outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, led with the headline that the morality police had officially been abolished. The New York Times for instance, reported it as being an 'apparent victory for feminists.'

New York Times, December 4, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221204134710/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/world/middleeast/iran-morality-police.html

"The original claim came from a vague comment made by one regime official — someone who is not in charge of Iran's morality police. At a press conference, Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was asked why the morality police, which in Persian is called Gasht-e-ershad, has not been seen on the streets in recent days. Montazeri said the following: 'The morality police has nothing to do with the judiciary system. The same source that created it in the past — from that same source it has been shut down. Of course, the judiciary system will continue its surveillance of social behaviours across society.'

"What does that tell us?.... Firstly, the attorney general admitted the morality police does not fall under the purview of the country's judiciary. And he also did not specify who exactly allegedly shut down the morality police — or when and how it was shut down.... Notably, Montazeri said the enforcement of the country's Islamic sharia laws would continue by means of 'social surveillance' — demonstrating that whether the morality police exists or not, Iranian women will still be subjected to the same punitive legal system dictating the Islamic dress code.

"Has the regime made false claims about the morality police before? Yes. Late in 2017, IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Rahimi, who also heads the Greater Tehran police, claimed that Iranian women would no longer be jailed for not wearing the hijab.... But in 2018, police in Tehran arrested 29 women for taking part in the 'White Wednesdays' campaign, where women across Iran protested the mandatory hijab by climbing onto telecom boxes, taking off their headscarves and waving them on a stick. A number of these women and their mothers are still imprisoned....

"Iranian state media forcefully pushed back on the top prosecutor's comments, insisting it is the Ministry of Interior that oversees the morality police — not the judiciary. Montazeri was also quoted in Iranian state media rebuking reporting by the international media, saying that 'no official authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran has confirmed the closure of the morality police.'.... Iranians on social media quickly expressed their dismay at the way international media reported the news, many suggesting it stems from an inherent misunderstanding of what the protests in Iran stand for. 'I think it simply underscores that the global community wants a neat resolution to this story and is not realizing that the Iranian people want a full overhaul of the system — not just the morality police,' Gissou Nia, an Iranian-American human rights lawyer at the Atlantic Council told CBC News....

"Many activists argued on social media that Montazeri's comments were a form of misinformation and, in fact, a tactic employed by the Iranian regime to stop the ongoing protests in Iran. 'International media outlets must learn that when dictatorships like the Islamic Republic are in trouble, they spread propaganda, as the Iranian regime did in 2017 and as they did today,'" prominent Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad said on Twitter. 'This is their modus operandi.'"

Monday, November 28, 2022

Protests in China against Zero Covid regime

Protesters call for Xi to resign amid unprecedented unrest over China's COVID-19 measures | CBC News - Thomson Reuters:

November 27, 2022 - "Protesters angered by strict COVID-19 measures called for China's powerful leader to resign, a rare rebuke as authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress demonstrations Sunday that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party.

"The wave of civil disobedience is unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago, as frustration mounts over his signature zero-COVID policy nearly three years into the pandemic.... The protests — which began Friday and have spread to cities including the capital, Beijing, and dozens of university campuses — are the most widespread show of opposition to the ruling party in decades.

Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai who called for Xi to step down and an end to one-party rule, but hours later people rallied again in the same spot. Police again broke up the demonstration.... In a video of the protest in Shanghai verified by The Associated Press, chants against Xi, the most powerful leader since at least the 1980s, and the Chinese Communist Party sounded loud and clear: 'Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!' People also held up blank sheets of paper as an expression of protest.
A large crowd also gathered in the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu, according to videos on social media, where they also held up blank sheets of paper and chanted: 'We don't want lifelong rulers. We don't want emperors,' a reference to Xi, who has scrapped presidential term limits.
At the campus of Beijing's Tsinghua University, a large crowd gathered, according to images and videos posted on social media. Some people also held blank sheets of paper.
In the central city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began three years ago, videos on social media showed hundreds of residents take to the streets, smashing through metal barricades, overturning COVID-19 testing tents and demanding an end to lockdowns.
Other cities that have seen public dissent include Lanzhou in the northwest, where residents on Saturday overturned COVID-19 staff tents and smashed testing booths, posts on social media showed. Protesters said they were put under lockdown even though no one had tested positive.

"The current protests erupted after a fire broke out Thursday, killing at least 10 people in an apartment building in the city of Urumqi in the northwest, where some have been locked in their homes for four months. That prompted an outpouring of angry questions online about whether firefighters or people trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other restrictions. Urumqi officials abruptly held a news conference on Saturday to deny that pandemic measures had hampered escape and rescue efforts.

"Three years after COVID-19 emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop transmission of COVID-19. Its "zero COVID" strategy has suspended access to neighbourhoods for weeks at a time. Some cities carry out daily virus tests on millions of residents.... People who are quarantined at home in some areas say they lack food and medicine. The ruling party faced public anger following the deaths of two children whose parents said anti-virus controls hampered efforts to get medical help.

"China defends its COVID-19 policies as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the health-care system. Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world's second-biggest economy."

Saturday, November 5, 2022

LIfe in a Chinese Covid quarantine camp

I spent 10 days in a secret Chinese Covid detention centre | Financial Times - Thomas Hale:

November 2, 2022 - "The call came from a number I did not recognise. 'You need to quarantine,' a man on the other end of the line said in Mandarin. He was calling from the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 'I’ll come and get you in about four or five hours.' I dashed out of my hotel to stock up on crucial supplies.... Four to five hours later, I received another phone call. This time it was a woman from the hotel’s staff. 'You are a close contact,' she said. 'You can’t go outside.' 'Am I the only close contact in the hotel?' I was, she told me and added 'the hotel is closed', meaning locked down. I went to the door of my room and opened it. A member of staff was standing there. We both jumped....

"The men in hazmat suits arrived a little later. First, they administered a PCR test with the same rushed weariness of the man who had called me earlier. Then, one escorted me down the deserted hallway. We passed the lifts, which were blocked off and guarded, and took the staff elevator. Outside, the entrance was also cordoned off. A hotel with hundreds of rooms had been frozen for me alone. In the empty street, a bus was idling. It was small, a vehicle for school trips or large families, maybe. We drove off.... It is a curious experience, as an adult, to be driven somewhere without having any idea of the destination....

"Eventually, we came to a stop on a small road in the middle of a field. The driver was instructed, over walkie-talkie, to keep going. But this was impossible because there were several full-sized coaches in front of us, and small crowds of people wandered around in the darkness. 'I can’t drive, he barked into his handset and proceeded to get out, lock the bus behind him and wander off into the night.... The queue of buses slowly disappeared into what looked like a brightly lit gate at the end of the road.... We waited. None of us — not me, not the other passengers, not our driver — had tested positive for Covid-19.

"Around 2 am, our driver climbed back on board.... We continued deeper inside China’s quarantine apparatus, the kind of place that finds you, rather than the other way around. It is part of a system scarcely conceived of or understood by the outside world, one defined almost in opposition to it. It is a system that seeks to eliminate rather than cohabit with coronavirus, one in which an unknown number of people are detained.... That approach, known as 'zero Covid', is one of maximal suppression of the virus. It employs contact tracing, constant testing, border quarantine and lockdowns in order to stop community transmission of the virus as soon as a case is detected. It is aggressive and could only really exist in the long-run in an autocratic society with the mechanisms for mass surveillance already in place. There is no end in sight to the policy, despite China’s vaccination rate of about 90 per cent.... It is, above all, another kind of bureaucracy, with a vast workforce behind it....

"When the bus finally reached its destination many hours later, we quietly disembarked. Each of us was asked to confirm our presence on the 'name list', [and] ... each assigned a room number.... The facility consisted of neat rows of what might be described as cabins, each one a shipping container-like box, sitting on short stilts above the ground.... It was hard to tell how many cabins there were in all. Fluorescent outdoor lighting flickered above, and a camera was positioned with a view of every door. Neither was ever turned off.... 'There’s no hot water,' someone shouted. Somewhere a woman wailed, and it occurred to me there were no children here....

"China’s Omicron nightmare: ‘Quarantine in metal boxes under zero-COVID policy," Hindustan Times, Jan. 13, 2022

"Inside my 196-sq-ft cabin there were two single beds, a kettle, an air-conditioning unit, a desk, a chair, a bowl, two small cloths, one bar of soap, an unopened duvet, a small pillow, a toothbrush, one tube of toothpaste and a roll-up mattress roughly the thickness of an oven glove. The floor was covered in dust and grime. The whole place shook when you walked around, which I soon stopped noticing. The window was barred, though you could still lean out. There was no shower....

"The daily rhythm went as follows. Early in the morning, we awoke to a lawnmower-like noise, which was in fact an industrial-grade disinfectant machine spraying our windows and front steps. Meals were provided at 8am, noon and 5pm. Around 9am, two nurses in blue hazmat suits came by to administer PCR tests.... I kept to a strict personal routine ... interspersed with constant cleaning to keep the dust at bay.... Any discomfort was secondary to the psychological impact of uncertainty. Although I was told on arrival my stay would be seven days, it would in fact be 10.... After a while, all my other problems dissolved and I thought only of getting out....

"It is easier to climb up to heaven than to discern the inner workings of the name lists.... In order to get your name on the one that allows you to leave, you need to be on the so-called double test list a day earlier. If you are, nurses take a sample from your nose and mouth and then do the same for the other nostril. I lobbied extensively to be on this list, but nothing could be confirmed until the day itself. When the nurses came, they also tested the floor, my bag, my mobile phone and the remote control for the air-conditioning unit. All of them, like the dozen or so tests I had taken in the previous two weeks, were negative. Eventually, my code turned green....

"Back in my hotel, the hot water was hot and the mattress soft. The number on the scales in the bathroom was lower. It was the right time for a celebratory meal. But any restaurant would require me to scan my QR code, risking a repeat of the whole affair. I spent some time pacing back and forth in the street, struggling to decide what to do."

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Iranian protests become insurrection

After more than a month of ongoing demonstrations and police crackdowns, the Iran protests are turning into a full-scale uprising.

How Iran’s protests transformed into a national uprising | CNN - Jomana Karadsheh, Tamara Qiblawi & Adam Pourahmadi:

October 13, 2022 - "Nearly a month after the start of nationwide protests, parts of Iran now bear the hallmarks of battle zones, with flares lighting up skies, gunfire ringing out and bloody scenes recorded in ... [Sanandaj] the Kurdish-majority city in western Iran, where some of the most dramatic images have emerged from the protests, despite a near total internet shutdown in the area.... Video apparently shot from rooftops showed what appeared to be clashes between young protesters and heavily armed security forces. Bullets and flares crossed the night sky and a cloud of dust and smoke covered the city blocks. At street level, other videos showed protesters throwing rocks at police, with the officers sometimes traveling in a procession of motorcycles, who appeared to be shooting at the crowd.

"Large numbers of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have been participating in the crackdown in addition to local police, say activists in Sanandaj, who accuse authorities of lashing back indiscriminately. According to Oslo-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw, a 7-year-old boy died in his mother’s arms on Sunday after security forces fired into a crowd of protesters. While it is impossible to independently verify a death toll from such clashes, gruesome images circulating online, and eyewitness testimony collected by CNN as well as rights groups, point to the bloodshed.

"Video showed a driver in the city lying dead with a large gunshot wound in his face – activists said he was honking his horn in solidarity with protesters. 'In Sanandaj, they shoot the people honking their horns with bullets. And they shoot young and old alike,' said another protester in a video message to CNN. 'The injured don’t go to hospitals because if they go there plain-clothes police will arrest them'.... 'We are protesting for freedom in Iran. For the prisoners and the condemned, for the people of Iran calling for the regime to go. Everyone wants this regime to go.'

"Despite the government’s repeated claims of having restored calm, the scenes are being replicated throughout the country to varying degrees, with the Kurdish-majority west of the country appearing to bear the brunt of the crackdown.... Iranian people keep pouring into thoroughfares across the country.... Increasingly, activists and experts are characterizing the protests as a national uprising and one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian regime since its founding.

"'This is not a protest for reform,' Roham Alvandi, an associate professor of History at the London School of Economics, told CNN. 'This is an uprising demanding the end of the Islamic Republic. And that is something completely different to what we’ve seen before.'

"In the last month, Iran’s protesters have targeted the economic and political nerve centers of the regime. Videos showed people throwing rocks at police in the center of Tehran. In the capital’s bazaar, security forces were seen running away from demonstrators. Even in the conservative cities of Mashhad and Qom – the heart of the regime’s powerbase – demonstrators crop up frequently. Some gas and oil refineries have also turned into sites of protests, which are rapidly spreading in the country’s southwest.

"The country’s Council of Oil Contractor Workers has said it would potentially call a strike and pause oil production. The petroleum industry is the lifeline of Iran’s economy, which has been buckling under the strain of US sanctions unleashed by the Trump administration in 2018.... Video suggested that the demonstrations at the refineries began as protests over wages, but then transformed into anti-regime protests, with laborers chanting 'death to the dictator' – a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Around the country, protesters have pushing for economic strikes with some success. In Kurdish-majority areas, where the protests are believed to be more organized than elsewhere in the country, social media videos showed lines of shops shuttered. In Tehran’s bazaar, a number of stores have closed in recent days, though many merchants say they did so to protect their shops from the protests and the crackdowns that follow. A general strike, which Iranian activists have called for, has yet to materialize."

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

New lockdowns in China

China imposes new COVID-19 lockdowns as cases triple ahead of Communist Party congress | CBS News:

October 10, 2022 - "Chinese cities were imposing fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions after the number of new daily COVID-19 cases tripled during a weeklong holiday, ahead of a major Communist Party meeting in Beijing next week. The latest lockdown started Monday in Fenyang city in northern China's Shanxi province after a preliminary positive case was found in citywide testing the previous day, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

"In the nearby Inner Mongolia region, the capital Hohhot announced that outside vehicles and passengers would be prohibited from entering the city starting Tuesday. Hohhot has recorded more than 2,000 cases over about 12 days.

"China is one of the few places in the world still resorting to harsh measures to keep the disease from spreading. The long-ruling Communist Party is particularly concerned as it tries to present a positive image of the nation in the run-up to a once-in-five-years party congress that starts Sunday.... But the number of new daily cases has still grown to about 1,800 from 600 at the start of the break.

"Leaders don't want a major outbreak to cast a pall over the congress, but their strict 'zero-COVID' approach has taken an economic toll, particularly on small businesses and temporary workers. Many in China hope the pandemic policy will ease after the meeting.

"Outbreaks have been reported across the country, with the largest in Inner Mongolia and the far-west Xinjiang region. Both have been recording several hundred new cases a day.

"Both Shanghai, where residents endured prolonged lockdowns earlier this year, and the national capital Beijing have had a small but growing number of cases. Two Shanghai districts announced closures of cinemas and other entertainment venues on Monday."

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Protests against morality police spread in Iran

Protests against Iran's "morality police" have spread across the country since September 18, when a 21-year-old woman died in morality police custody.

Iran protester: 'They said if we didn't keep quiet, they would rape us' | BBC News:

September 27, 2022 - "Protests have spread across in Iran since the death on 16 September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by the morality police in the capital three days earlier for allegedly breaking strict hijab (headscarf) rules. Police maintain that she collapsed at a detention centre after suffering a heart attack, but her family allege that officers beat her head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles.

"The protests sparked by her death, led mainly by women, began with demands to end the mandatory hijab laws. But they have now turned into nationwide demonstrations against Iran's leaders and the entire clerical establishment. Despite widespread internet disruption, videos of protesters being arrested by the Iranian security forces have continued to be published on social media.... The BBC has seen videos in which commanders are seen ordering riot police officers to 'not pity the protesters and shoot them'. Other videos verified by the BBC appear to show security forces shooting live ammunition at protesters....

"According to the state media, more than 40 people have been killed during the unrest. Human rights groups have reported a higher death toll. The overall number of people who have been arrested has not been shared by the authorities. However, the chief prosecutor of Mazandaran, a province north of Tehran, said at least 450 protesters had been detained there alone. Human rights groups say thousands of protestors are being detained.... President Ebrahim Raisi has pledged to 'deal decisively' with the protests, which have now spread to most of Iran's 31 provinces....

"Women have been at the forefront of the protests, with many removing their headscarves or burning them.... Many are being held in small police stations and IRGC facilities, many of which are unknown to the public. 'We were moved to a small police station. They were not ready to receive so many people,' Maryam told the BBC. 'They put at least 60 women, including me, in a small room. We were standing next to each other and couldn't sit or move. They said we could not use the bathroom, and that if we got hungry we could eat our stools. After almost a day, when we shouted and protested inside the room, they started threatening us that if we didn't keep quiet, they would rape us.'"
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63047372

Who are the morality police?

Guidance Patrol | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

September 28, 2022 - "Guidance Patrol (Persian: گشت ارشاد, romanized: gašt-e eršād), widely known [as] the morality police, is a vice squad/Islamic religious police in the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, established in 2005 with the task of arresting people who violate the Islamic dress code, usually concerning the wearing by women of hijabs covering their hair. Since the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, Iranian law has required all women in Iran to wear hijabs that cover their head and neck, and conceal their hair. In the 1980s, the Islamic Revolution Committees served the function of the Islamic religious police in Iran. In 2005, the Guidance Patrol became its successor organization. The Guidance Patrol reports to the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei....

"According to Iran's Interior Minister, in a three-month period in 2014, 220,000 women were taken to police stations and signed statements there promising to wear hijabs, 19,000 were given hair-covering notices, and 9,000 were detained. In 2014, the police additionally gave warnings and guidance to 3.6 million other Iranians who failed to follow the Islamic dress code. In 2015, in an eight-month period police in Tehran stopped 40,000 women driving in Tehran for not obeying Islamic rules of proper dress, and impounded the cars of most of them, generally for a week. In 2016, Tehran used 7,000 undercover Guidance Patrol officers to catch violators of the Islamic dress code. The Guidance Patrol has also harassed trans women for lack of gender conformity.... Iran also banned the use of makeup by women....

"The Guidance Patrols usually consist of a van with a male crew accompanied by chador-clad females who stand at busy public places (e.g., shopping centers, squares, and subway stations), to arrest women not wearing hijabs or not wearing them in accordance with government standards.... The United Nations Human Rights Office said young Iranian women were violently slapped in the face, beaten with batons, and pushed into police vans. The women are driven to a correctional facility or police station, lectured on how to dress, have their photos taken by the police and personal information recorded, required to destroy any 'bad' clothing with scissors, and generally released to relatives the same day though many are detained. Under Article 683 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, the penalty for a woman not wearing the hijab consists of imprisonment from 10 days to two months, and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 Iranian rials. Violators may also be lashed....

"The Guidance Patrol also monitors immodest attire by men, 'Western-style' haircuts worn by men, male-female fraternization, violations of restrictions on the wearing of makeup, and the wearing of bright colors, tight clothing, torn jeans, and short trousers. Violations include too much hair showing from under a headscarf, and a boyfriend and girlfriend taking a walk together. Members of the public may turn one another in for perceived violations of the dress code, and traffic cameras are also used to identify violators of the dress code. Iran's entire CCTV cameras, including from cafes, universities, and kindergartens, transmit their footage to the police....

"On September 16, 2022, the Guidance Patrol arrested Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, in a manner that allowed some of her hair to be visible under her hijab. She died in their custody; they claimed she suffered heart failure, and consequently died comatose two days later. Bruises on her legs and face suggested to many that she was beaten, despite police denials. Multiple medical officials and detainees that witness her arrest claim that Guidance Patrol officials tortured her in the back of a van before arriving to the station. Her arrest and death inspired a wave of protests in Iran, including at Tehran University and at Kasra Hospital, where she died."
[Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0]
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidance_Patrol

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Chinese thinktank calls for end to Zero Covid

Chinese think tank: Virus curbs must change to help economy | Associated Press - Joe McDonald:

August 29, 2022 - "A Chinese think tank issued a rare public disagreement Monday with the ruling Communist Party’s severe 'zero COVID' policy, saying curbs that shut down cities and disrupt trade, travel and industry must change to prevent an 'economic stall.' The Anbound Research Center gave no details of possible changes but said President Xi Jinping’s government needs to focus on shoring up sinking growth. It noted the United States, Europe and Japan are recovering economically after easing anti-disease curbs.

"'Preventing the risk of economic stall should be the priority task,' the think tank said in a report titled, 'It’s Time for China to Adjust Its Virus Control and Prevention Policies'.... The report, dated Sunday, was posted on the Anbound Research Center’s accounts on the popular WeChat messaging platform and the Sina Weibo microblog service but was deleted from both on Monday afternoon....

"Economists warn that China needs to boost growth that sank to 2.5% over a year earlier in the first half of 2022, less than half the official annual target of 5.5%, after Shanghai and other industrial centers shut down starting in late March to fight virus outbreaks. 'China’s economy is at risk of stalling' due to the 'impact of epidemic prevention and control policies,' the think tank said....

"Economists and public health experts have warned since mid-2021 that 'zero COVID,' which aims to keep the virus out of China by isolating every case, is unsustainable. Officials respond that they have no alternative because letting the virus spread would overwhelm Chinese hospitals.

"A Shanghai physician with 3 million followers on social media, Zhang Wenhong, was shut down by official criticism and targeted by a plagiarism investigation in 2021 after he suggested China’s strategy could change and the world 'needs to learn how to coexist with the virus.'

"Founded in 1993, Anbound says it has served the Communist Party’s Central Financial and Economic Leading Group and provided research to government agencies and financial institutions. Its report gave no indication whether it might represent the thinking of officials who are unhappy with the soaring economic and human cost of “zero COVID.”

"China’s policy has kept deaths and infection numbers low but led to a wave of business failures. News reports say local governments are cutting public services and wages for civil servants to pay for virus testing and anti-disease measures.

"The economic impact of repeated shutdowns of companies and neighborhoods is more severe than last year, the think tank said. It said that 'freezing effect' might be even worse than when the outbreak began in 2020 and the whole economy shut down temporarily.... China needs to “focus on economic recovery and gradually integrate with the world,” the Anbound report said.... The government has stopped replacing passports that expire and has called on the public to avoid going abroad."

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Chinese locked down in homes during earthquake

Outcry as Chinese lockdown traps residents during earthquake | BBC News - Frances Mao:

September 6, 2022 - "Footage showing that some residents in the earthquake-hit Chinese city of Chengdu were stopped from fleeing their compounds due to a Covid lockdown has sparked anger and disbelief online. Some in Chengdu say they were told to stay inside through a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on Monday that has killed at least 65 people. Those that ran out say they found the exits shut due to Covid restrictions.

"Chengdu, home to 21 million people, is currently under strict lockdown rules. China has a so-called zero Covid-19 policy, meaning that lockdowns are routinely imposed in communities when cases of the virus are detected. In some instances, apartment buildings where at least one person has tested positive for Covid have been designated 'sealed areas' - where residents are forbidden from setting foot outside their homes whether or not they have the virus.

"In one [video], a man swears at security guard, rattling what appears to be his apartment gates and trying to open it, shouting: 'Hurry up, open the door, it's an earthquake!' In response, the guards say: 'It's over, the earthquake's already over.' Another video claims to be an audio recording of a loudspeaker message that said: 'Go back home and do not gather here, it's just an earthquake'....

"One man told the BBC he had run out of his 30-floor building after feeling the earthquake's tremors. When he realised he was trapped, he raised complaints among the crowd gathered at the gates. 'Which one is more important? The lockdown or the earthquake?' Lu Siwei, a lawyer in Chengdu, had shouted. He says his neighbour replied: 'Do not incite emotions and do not talk politics.' After several heated rounds, Mr Lu says the man then physically assaulted him....

"'It's a joke that we have to discuss such a question,' said one commentator under a post from a local news site which quoted a lawyer saying citizens were 'constitutionally' free to flee to safety. The post had received over 3.7 million views by Tuesday. 'I guess it's fine if I die inside the building, at least I didn't get infected,' said another comment sarcastically.

"The Chengdu Health Commission later posted on its official WeChat account that 'priority should be given to safeguarding the lives of the public in the event of earthquakes, fires, floods and other disasters'.

"China's Covid policies require cities to enter strict lockdowns - even if just a handful of cases are reported. However, Beijing's drive to ensure 'zero Covid' has prompted rare public dissent from citizens.

"China is the world's last major economy attempting to entirely stamp out Covid outbreaks, claiming this is necessary to prevent wider surges of the virus which could overwhelm hospitals. The country has officially recorded fewer than 15,000 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University."

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Millions still under lockdown in China

Millions are still under lockdown in China, despite its government banning the use of the term.

Several cities in China add COVID curbs as millions still under lockdown | Reuters - Thomas Peter:

August 11, 2022 - "Several COVID-hit Chinese cities from the country's east to west imposed fresh restrictions and lockdowns on their populations on Thursday to contain flare-ups that are again threatening to disrupt local economies. Reducing people's unnecessary movement for a few days - a softer type of lockdown - as soon as dozens of new cases emerge is a key practice of China's 'dynamic COVID-zero' strategy....

"The eastern export and manufacturing hub Yiwu said on Thursday it would enter three days of 'silent management', with most of its residents banned from leaving designated areas and some confined to their homes. Yiwu's 1.9 million people joined millions of others across several cities whose movements are restricted largely to their residential compounds, unless they have to go out for matters such as COVID tests, grocery shopping or hospital visits ... while all public venues in Yiwu were to be closed during the three days, excluding hospitals and other places offering essential services.

"In China's western region of Xinjiang, three cities in the Aksu area from Thursday allowed employees to leave their homes for work while restricting everyone else to necessary movements only. It is not clear when the measures will be lifted. Key districts in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, meanwhile, have been in a five-day lockdown starting on Wednesday.

"Clusters in the tourism hotspots Hainan and Tibet continued to expand, with affected cities under lockdowns.

"Mainland China reported 1,993 domestically transmitted new coronavirus cases for Aug. 10 - 614 symptomatic and 1,379 asymptomatic - the National Health Commission said on Thursday. There were no new deaths, keeping fatalities at 5,226. China has confirmed 232,809 cases with symptoms as of Aug. 10, including local transmitted ones and those among arrivals."

In China, a ban on the word "lockdown" | WION, Jun 2, 2022:

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

80,000 tourists locked down in 'China's Hawaii'

Sanya: Covid lockdown strands tourists on 'China's Hawaii' | BBC News:

August 7, 2022 "More than 80,000 tourists have been left stranded in a popular resort in China after a coronavirus outbreak sparked a lockdown. Authorities cancelled all flights and trains from Sanya, known as 'China's Hawaii, on Saturday, a day after 263 positive cases were confirmed. Travellers must now present five negative PCR tests over seven days before being allowed to leave....

"The restrictions on Sanya, a city on the southern Hainan Island and a popular surfing destination, come during the peak tourist season. Essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies remain open, but entertainment venues have been closed since last week."
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-62455908

Sanya Covid lockdown: Escaping to 'China's Hawaii' only to face fresh curbs |BBC News - Melissa Zhu:

August 8 - "Kyle Newton was hoping for a break in the resort of Sanya on Hainan island - known as "China's Hawaii" - after enduring a harsh two-month Covid lockdown in Shanghai. His Hainan trip was due to last less than a week and was the teacher's first holiday in China since arriving just as the pandemic broke out.... But on Saturday, after 263 positive cases were confirmed in Sanya, authorities cancelled all flights and trains out of the city.

"On Monday the lockdown was extended to cover several cities after 504 cases were recorded on the island. The provincial capital Haikou - with a population of nearly three million - has been locked down and about seven million people have been told not to leave home except for food and Covid tests, state media said. Smaller towns Wuzhishan, Ledong and Chengmai are also locked down....

"Travellers must now present five negative PCR tests over seven days before they can leave - if they are able to book a flight out.... Mr Newton, from the UK, says he has had to queue for about two hours every morning to get a Covid test, which means he's been forced to cancel work meetings.... While those whose flights were cancelled on Saturday were reportedly offered free hotel rooms, Mr Newton said the hotel only offered him a 50% discount on the room rate for extending his stay due to the lockdown....

"Brian Hall, a professor at New York University Shanghai, also said it was unclear how long guests would have to remain in their rooms. His room is booked until Wednesday, and there has been no confirmation of the arrangement after this, he said. Dr Hall said it was his fourth period of confinement this year alone. Just four days after Shanghai lifted its lockdown at the beginning of June, Dr Hall's residential area was sealed again for another two weeks due to a suspected close contact case in a neighbouring compound. When he was allowed out, he immediately travelled to Sanya, where he had to do 10 days of quarantine.....

"Meanwhile, for residents such as Simon Vericel, the food supply remains 'annoying but so far not impossible'.... The Frenchman, who is a managing director for a PR firm, said they had been able to get food through delivery apps - but it can take more than 12 hours to arrive. Still, Mr Vericel says he has suffered minimally compared to tourists."
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62461248

Saturday, July 30, 2022

1 million locked down in Wuhan for 4 Covid cases

China's Wuhan shuts down district of 1 million people over 4 asymptomatic Covid cases | CNN - Nectar Gan:

July 27, 2022 - "The Chinese metropolis of Wuhan has shut down a district of almost a million people after detecting four asymptomatic Covid cases, as the original epicenter of the pandemic takes no chances in preventing another outbreak under China's stringent zero-Covid policy. Authorities in Wuhan's Jiangxia district, home to more than 970,000 people, announced Wednesday its main urban areas would enforce three days of 'temporary control measures.'

"Entertainment venues -- including bars, cinemas and internet cafes -- small clinics and agricultural product marketplaces were closed; restaurant dining and large gatherings, from performances to conferences, were suspended; all places of worship were shut and religious activities banned; while tutoring institutions and tourist attractions halted operations, according to a government statement. All public transport, from buses to subway services, were suspended, and residents were urged not to leave the district unless absolutely necessary.

"Authorities also identified four high-risk neighborhoods where residents are banned from leaving their homes. A further four neighborhoods were designated as medium-risk, meaning residents cannot leave their compounds. The measures were aimed to 'further reduce the flow of people, lower the risk of cross-infection and achieve dynamic zero-Covid in the shortest time possible,' the statement said....

"Wuhan, a transport and industrial hub in central China's Hubei province, imposed the world's first Covid lockdown in early 2020 to contain the rampaging coronavirus, after initially playing down the outbreak and silencing health workers who tried to sound alarms.

Wuhan, China, in 2020. Photo by Zheng Zhou. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

The stringent lockdown shuttered businesses and confined residents to their homes for more than two months.... Despite the initial mishandling, the Chinese government has heralded Wuhan as a success story in its fight against the pandemic. In August 2020, as much of the world grappled with Covid-19, Wuhan made international headlines when it held an electronic music festival in an open air water park, with thousands of people partying....

"[S]nap lockdown, mass testing and strict quarantine have been used by authorities across China to contain sporadic outbreaks, in what has become known as the zero-Covid strategy. That approach had been mostly effective ... until this year, when the highly transmissible Omicron variant caused the country's largest outbreak since Wuhan [2020]. The financial hub of Shanghai was placed under more than two months of bruising lockdown,... Cities and towns around the country have also been subject to varying degrees of restrictions ... with some border towns undergoing intermittent lockdowns for months on end.

"The lockdowns have also wreaked extensive damage on the Chinese economy, plunging it into the slowest quarterly growth since the start of the pandemic. As much of the world moved on from the pandemic, Chinese officials, including the country's leader Xi Jinping, have repeatedly vowed to stick to the zero-Covid policy."

Thursday, July 14, 2022

90% fully vaccinated Macau is locked down

The international gambling hub of Macau, where 90% of the population is fully vaccinated for Covid, has been locked down, for the first time since February 2020.

Macau Shuts Casinos as City Enters Weeklong Lockdown | Wall Street Journal - Natasha Khan:

July 10, 2022 - "The gambling enclave of Macau will enter a citywide lockdown early Monday, as authorities seek to contain a spiraling Covid-19 outbreak. Aside from essential services such as supermarkets, healthcare facilities and restaurants selling takeaway, all other businesses have been ordered to shut for a week, with residents required to stay at home. City officials urged the public not to panic-buy food, asking people to make purchases at staggered times to enable social distancing in queues.

"The order, issued Saturday by the territory’s chief executive, Ho Iat-seng, comes as Macau struggles to contain an outbreak that had already shuttered venues such as cinemas, salons and swimming pools. The Chinese gambling hub has recorded hundreds of cases in recent weeks, its worst-ever outbreak after keeping to China’s zero-Covid strategy for most of the pandemic.... Macau has a population of about 650,000. Throughout the pandemic, it has maintained strict Covid-containment measures. At one point, quarantine for travelers from what it deemed very high-risk countries was as long as 28 days.

"The lockdown order specified that all adults who needed to leave their homes would be required to wear masks of KN95-standard or above. Those who violated that order could be subject to jail time."

Charlie Fong, Centre of Macau Peninsula at Night, 2021. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Macau shuts all casinos in bid to contain worsening Covid outbreak | The Guardian - Reuters:

July 11, 2022 - "More than 30 zones in the city that have been deemed high risk are now under lockdown, meaning no one is allowed to enter or exit for at least five days. While the government said it was not imposing a citywide lockdown, the stringent measures mean Macau is effectively closed....

"Casinos were last shut in Macau in February 2020 for 15 days.... The industry employs most of the population directly or indirectly and accounts for more than 80% of government revenues. Casinos owned by Sands China, Wynn Macau, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment, Melco Resorts and MGM Resorts have been effectively shut for the past few weeks, with no gamblers and minimal staffing as per government requirements for people to work from home....

"Frustration is mounting at the government’s handling of the outbreak. Some residents have got into fights at testing centres while others have had to queue for more than 20 hours to access healthcare facilities. Residents will be required to take part in mass Covid tests four times this week as the government attempts to cut transmission chains. Residents have already been tested six times since mid June and are expected to do rapid antigen tests daily.

"More than 90% of Macau’s 600,000 residents are fully vaccinated against Covid but this is the first time the city has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Authorities have added two hotels in popular casino resorts to be used as Covid medical facilities as they try to increase capacity to handle the surge of infections."

Friday, July 8, 2022

Fresh outbreak of Covid lockdowns in China

'People now aren't really scared of COVID anymore, they're scared of being locked down in their homes,' says a Shanghai resident, as fresh outbreaks of Covid in China lead to a fresh outbreak of lockdowns.

Fresh COVID-19 Outbreaks Put Millions Under Lockdown in China | Voice of America - Agence France-Presse:

July 06, 2022 - "Tens of millions of people were under lockdown across China on Wednesday and businesses in a major tourist city were forced to close as fresh COVID-19 clusters sparked fears of wider restrictions. Chinese health authorities have reported more than 300 infections in the historic northern city of Xian, home to the Terracotta Army, with new clusters found in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere. The outbreaks and official response have dashed hopes that China would move away from the strict virus curbs seen earlier this year, when its hardline zero-COVID policy saw tens of millions forced to stay home for weeks.

"In Shanghai, some social media users reported receiving government food rations, a throwback to the monthslong confinement forced on the city's residents earlier this year.... Officials launched a new round of mass testing in more than half of the city's districts after a rebound in cases since the weekend. All karaoke bars were closed Wednesday after some infections were linked to six venues.

"'I think this is unnecessary, and I don't really want to do it,' Shanghai resident Alice Chan told AFP. She said she took part in the latest testing round over fears that her smartphone-stored health code, which is used to access public spaces, might otherwise flag her as a COVID risk.

"'I think the situation won't improve in the short term,' said another resident, who gave his name as Yao. 'People now aren't really scared of COVID anymore, they're scared of being locked down in their homes.'

"Japanese bank Nomura has estimated that at least 114 million people were under full or partial lockdowns nationwide in China as of Monday, a sharp jump from last week's 66.7 million. The recent resurgences pose a fresh challenge for President Xi Jinping, who last week reaffirmed his commitment to the zero-COVID strategy despite the mounting economic cost.

"In Xian, a city of 13 million that endured a monthlong lockdown last year, the population was placed under 'temporary control measures' after 29 infections were found since Saturday.... The city government said it would close entertainment venues including pubs, internet cafes and karaoke bars starting at midnight on Wednesday. State media showed Xian residents queuing up for tests past midnight Tuesday but said the city was not under lockdown....

"Officials have blamed the outbreak on a subvariant of omicron.... 'The positive infections are all the BA.5.2 branch of the omicron variant, and epidemiological tracing work is still in full swing,' Xian health official Ma Chaofeng said at a briefing. In Beijing, officials said Wednesday that the BA.5.2 branch has also been detected in the capital, but stressed the outbreak remains controllable....

"China's biggest cluster is in the central province of Anhui, where more than 1,000 infections have been reported since last week. Dozens of cases have also been recorded in Jiangsu province, neighboring Shanghai, threatening the Yangtze Delta manufacturing region."

Thursday, July 7, 2022

'Mass exodus' from Hong Kong since 2020

Hong Kong exodus | CBC News - Bernice Chan & Winston Szeto:

June 30, 2022 - "The Hong Kong government’s increasing hard line and China’s growing control over the region has coincided with more than 100,000 people leaving the region in the past two years, mostly to the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and Canada..... Hong Kong has changed so much — with Beijing increasing its control over the city’s political and legal system and gutting its civil society and media landscape — that people like ... Arial Wong ... have sought new lives elsewhere.

"Wong was ... active in the 2019 protests, which were sparked by an extradition bill that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed in the spring of that year.... In the ensuing months, the authorities arrested more than 10,000 people related to the protests, more than 2,900 of whom were prosecuted, according to figures released up to February 2022.... 'I formed groups to support the persecuted political prisoners that were sent to jail … I just helped them out with the legal aid and living expenses,' she says, noting she regularly visited people in jail. However, in recent months the Hong Kong government has charged groups like hers of aiding and abetting those related to the protests. To evade prosecution, Wong fled to Vancouver in January....

"By late January 2020 the protests were abruptly halted in two ways: the COVID-19 pandemic gave the Hong Kong government an opportunity to impose strict social-distancing measures, and six months later Beijing passed the national security law on Hong Kong, bypassing the city’s legislature. It is a vaguely worded law where anyone anywhere in the world can be charged with endangering China’s national security if the authorities deem someone has colluded with foreign forces, committed sedition, secession or terrorism.... When the national security law came into effect in 2020, Jeff Nankivell was the Canadian consul general of Hong Kong and Macau..... 'It [the national security law] became effective within minutes of having been promulgated. And the next day, already 10 people were arrested,' he said, adding that no one in Hong Kong knew the details of it, not even Lam, the city’s leader....

"A few months after the national security law was enacted, Nankivell says, Canada announced an extraordinary immigration measure: it allowed graduates from any worldwide recognized post-secondary institution in the past five years to apply for work permits that could lead to permanent residency. Many who have arrived though the new stream are young families concerned about the government overhauling the education system in Hong Kong.... Not only students are leaving Hong Kong, but teachers are too — 4,460 students and 987 teachers left the education system in the 2020-21 academic year, according to a survey released by the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools. That’s nearly double the number of teachers who left in previous years, the survey notes, with a 'seven-fold increase' in emigration."

Hong Kong lost residents in 2020 and 2021, but this year is expected to far surpass both years in terms of the numbers of people leaving for good | CNBC - Monica Buchanan Pitrelli:

May 27, 2022 - "For the past 60 years, Hong Kong’s population has grown nearly every year, from some 3.2 million people in 1961 to 7.5 million in 2019, according to Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department. From 2015 to 2019, the city gained an average of 53,000 new residents per year. Yet that is roughly the same number of people who departed Hong Kong during the first two weeks of March alone, according to the city’s Immigration Department. Hong Kong lost some 93,000 residents in 2020, followed by another 23,000 in 2021. But early estimates show this year will see far more people go.

“''In the last couple of years people have thought about leaving, but in the last six months there’s been an absolute mass exodus,” said Pei C., who has lived in Hong Kong for 17 years. She asked to be identified with her last initial because of sensitivities surrounding the topic in Hong Kong. The trigger, she said — one echoed by numerous people who spoke to CNBC for this story — was the highly-publicized policy that separated Covid-positive children from their parents earlier this year.... Pei estimates that 60-70% of her friends have left in the past six to 12 months.... 'Everyone’s going to Singapore,' said Pei, especially those working in finance, law and recruitment, she said.

"Kay Kutt, CEO of the Hong-Kong based relocation company Silk Relo, agreed.... Families are transferring to Singapore, she said, but small- and medium-sized businesses are also on the move. Whereas one company executive might have left in the past, now 'they’re all going,' she said. Small companies are 'taking the entire team and putting them into Singapore.' Large companies are also relocating to Singapore, said Cynthia Ang, an executive director at the recruitment firm Kerry Consulting. Other companies are staying in Hong Kong, but downsizing their offices, and moving regional headquarters to Singapore, said Ang....

"Others have moved to the United Kingdom and Canada.... During the pandemic, both countries launched visa programs granting eligible Hong Kong residents the right to reside within their jurisdictions. Immigration from Hong Kong to Canada is 'booming,' according to the Canadian immigration website.... Yet even more are relocating to the United Kingdom, with more than 100,000 applying to move as of March.... Silk Relo and Asian Tigers are also seeing an 'uptick' in moves from Hong Kong to Japan, South Korea and Thailand.... Dubai is also absorbing talent from Hong Kong, said Kerry Consulting’s Ang. She said that is especially true for American and European employers that already have a presence there."

Monday, July 4, 2022

Chinese gov't confirms commitment to Zero Covid

Xi Warns Against ‘Herd Immunity,’ Vows to Stick With Covid Zero | Bloomberg News:

June 29, 2022 - "President Xi Jinping declared Covid Zero the most 'economic and effective' policy for China, during a symbolic visit to Wuhan in which he cast the strategy as proof of the superiority of the country’s political system. Xi said during a trip Tuesday to the central Chinese city where the virus first emerged in late 2019 that relaxing Covid controls would risk too many lives in the world’s most populous country. China would rather endure some temporary impact on economic development than let the virus hurt people’s safety and health, he said, in remarks reported Wednesday by state media....

"The president characterized Covid Zero as connected to the Communist Party’s 'nature and purposes.' 'We have the leadership of CCP, we have the communities as the foundation at grassroots level, we have the capability and strength to implement dynamic-clearance policy until reaching the final victory,' Xi said, using China’s preferred term for the approach.

"The comments come in the run up to a pivotal party congress later this year, in which Xi is expected to secure a precedent-breaking third term in power. By increasingly tying Covid Zero to his own prestige as a leader, Xi is making it riskier for critics of the policy to speak up and also raising the political stakes for himself. China’s Covid outbreaks and an ongoing property market slump have put the government’s economic growth target of around 5.5% out of reach....

"Xi’s remarks come after the country managed to quell its most serious outbreaks since the Wuhan crisis: both Shanghai and Beijing reported zero local cases on Monday, for the first time since Feb. 19, with the financial hub in particular emerging from a bruising two-month lockdown. The omicron outbreak has tested its playbook, but China appears to have emerged from that with a new protocol for maintaining Covid Zero indefinitely. While an easing of travel quarantine buoyed markets on Tuesday as a sign of reopening, officials in the same document codified a standardized approach to mass testing and lockdown that local officials should follow.

"China’s 1.4 billion people live in a new normal of constant testing and tracking. In the capital of Beijing, residents are required to show a green code on a mobile app that tracks their health status, and take a Covid test every three days to enter any public venue, including restaurants, shops, and mass transportation. Even kids over age three must be tested to play in the park."

Wuhan Sees Virus Return Days After Xi Reinforces Covid Zero | Bloomberg News:

June 30, 2022 - "Covid-19 has returned to the central Chinese city where it first emerged, with two cases reported in Wuhan and a swelling outbreak in a neighboring province.... Two port workers in Wuhan came down with asymptomatic Covid infections, authorities said Friday. They’re the first cases there in more than a month and come just days after President Xi Jinping’s symbolic visit to the city, where he reiterated China’s pursuit of a zero-tolerance pandemic policy that’s leaving the country isolated and subject to unpredictable restrictions....

"Anhui province to the east reported a significant increase in cases, to 107 on Friday from 14 a day ago, mostly in a small county of some 763,000 people that has already been locked down. The county will undergo a fourth round of mass testing to weed out infections, with positive cases and their close contacts sent to government quarantine, in line with China’s ongoing approach.... Shanghai reported zero Covid cases on Friday, with the leader of China’s top financial hub declaring victory over Covid earlier in the week and describing a grueling two-month lockdown where millions were confined to their homes and suffered food shortages as 'completely correct'....

"China is now deploying an updated Covid Zero playbook which halves quarantine periods for close contacts and incoming travelers to a week, but standardizes the more extensive deployment of mass testing and lockdowns. The aim is to use stepped-up surveillance via ubiquitous testing and early, aggressive restrictions to avoid the significant economic hit of lengthy lockdowns, like the one in Shanghai.... Xi and his government have used China’s Covid death rate, one of the lowest in the world, as proof of the Communist Party’s heft, with the president saying this week the population is too large for 'such strategies as "herd immunity" and "lying flat"' and that deploying them in China would have 'unimaginable' consequences.

"Most China watchers have long expected the country will look to exit Covid Zero once Xi secures a third term later this year, but his comments this week and the establishment of a brick-and-mortar network of testing stations has raised questions over whether it could be deployed much longer, with tweaks to limit economic fallout."

Monday, June 27, 2022

Lockdown in Shenzhen, China, for 11 Covid cases

Coronavirus: Chinese factory hub Shenzhen shuts down Hong Kong border district for 3 days | South China Morning Post - Amanda Lee:

June 26, 2022 - "China’s southern manufacturing powerhouse of Shenzhen has closed wholesale markets, cinemas and gyms in a central district bordering Hong Kong for three days as it steps up to prevent a wider spread of Covid-19. The Shenzhen municipal health commission said all bars and parks would be shut in Futian district, and public events suspended, after nearly a dozen local cases were found over Friday and Saturday. Shenzhen reported seven local cases, five of which were symptomatic, on Friday and four local asymptomatic cases on Saturday. All of the cases were found in Futian district, except for one case in Luohu district on Saturday.

"Some bus and subway services have also been suspended in the district, home to around 1.55 million people and one of the world’s largest electronics markets. Restaurants are limited to 50 per cent of capacity. The measures will last at least three days, and then be 'adjusted' according to the disease situation, the commission said.

"Daily Covid-19 nucleic acid test results have now become necessary for using public transport or entering public venues in Futian, after the testing window for negative reports was shortened from 48 hours to 24.

Charlie Fong, Panorama of Futian district, Shenzhen, 2021. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

"The latest restrictions in Shenzhen, a city of 17.5 million that saw a sudden weeklong lockdown in March, underscore the challenges of trying to stamp out the highly transmissible Omicron variant as China sticks to a 'dynamic zero-Covid' policy. Two of China’s largest cities, the capital Beijing and the financial and business hub of Shanghai, have been battling a resurgence of Covid-19 since late March, with Shanghai emerging from a two-month citywide lockdown only on June 1.... Strict containment measures are part of China’s continued adherence to its zero-Covid policy, which aims to eliminate all outbreaks. However, while the curbs may have reduced the spread of infections, they have also fuelled frustrations among both local and international businesses and taken a heavy toll on the economy.

"A Futian resident who did not want to be named said his community had been designated as a 'controlled' area for a week from June 18, after one case was detected. 'Compared with the seven-day lockdown in March, I think the snap lockdown is better and more flexible,' ... the resident said. However, locals were concerned when they were told not to leave their homes during that period. Under the Guangdong provincial government’s definition of a 'controlled' area, the second in a three-tier Covid-zoning system, residents can leave their homes and move around within the community....

"Brian Miller, chief executive of Easy China Warehouse in Shenzhen’s Baoan district, said measures such as mandating negative coronavirus test results in getting around many parts of the city had been effective in preventing extensive lockdowns.... However, Miller also noted that the strict curbs had placed a financial burden on business owners and put off people from travelling in and out of China....

"'I haven’t left [China] for three years,' Miller added. 'One of the reasons why I haven’t left is not only because of the border [restrictions]. I’m just worried that there might be some policy that might not allow me to come back in, as a foreign national.'"

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