Similar videos that surfaced nearly two years ago in Wuhan are now circulating on Chinese social media platforms. Residents trapped in their homes are heard crying out in desperation: “Who still has something to eat?” says a woman filming her window wide open on a city engulfed in darkness. I’m going to starve! ” Her complaints are echoed by other residents of this district in Xi’an, who have been confined to their homes for over a week following the detection of nearly 1,000 Covid patients.
However, the authorities, struggling to contain the epidemic’s resurgence, have tightened containment measures. Initially, one person per household was allowed to go out to refuel: first every other day, then every three days. Now, as in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic, they are completely prohibited from leaving their homes. The city hall acknowledges difficulties in ensuring supplies and has mobilized tens of thousands of volunteers to deliver food to families. Sun Yuping, one of them, testifies on the state channel CCTV: “We will deliver basic necessities to the entrance of each residence, the packages of supplies will be disinfected. We will sort them and drop them off at the ground floor of each apartment block “.
The authorities are anxious about the upcoming Olympics
These “volunteers” are members of the neighborhood committees – offshoots of the Maoist period, they are the eyes and ears of the Party in every block of buildings. Zealous auxiliaries of the police, they are also mobilized to distribute food in each epidemic outbreak. Already used during the first confinements, as in Wuhan, the logistics are well oiled.
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The drastic measures implemented in Wuhan aim to uphold the “zero Covid” policy advocated by the Chinese government. And beware of those who do not follow the rules. In Xi’an, the police arrested at least seven people for attempting to bypass the quarantine, disrupting order and “spreading rumors,” according to local media.
However, this policy is being put to the test this winter, with Covid cases – albeit limited compared to other countries – at their highest in 20 months. A few weeks before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government is worried and is preparing people’s minds for more stringent control measures. “With these new variants and the arrival in China of thousands of people for the Olympics, we must expect a surge in new cases”, anticipates a representative of the Beijing 2022 Committee.
The borders, almost closed since March 2020 (with 98% of international flights to or from China canceled compared to 2019) will not reopen for several months, after the Olympics and the Congress of the Communist Party have taken place. political mass in October 2022 where Xi Jinping will seek a third term. Until then, nothing should go off the rails.
The borders with Hong Kong and Macao, which were scheduled to reopen in January, are also likely to remain closed, to the dismay of separated families, who had hoped to celebrate the Lunar New Year together on February 1.
“Buffer” border zones
In this context, China is seeking to understand how the virus was able to cross its great health wall. Chinese media report that the virus spread to Xi’an via the air conditioning system at the airport where a plane from Pakistan with many sick people landed just before this new outbreak.
The government, still alerted to the threat of a virus coming from abroad, is studying the possibility of creating buffer zones made up of border towns with Russia and Mongolia (to the north), and Burma and Vietnam (to the south) . Other areas are planned around international airports like Xi’an, Canton, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin and around major freight ports like Ningbo (in the east). In these “buffer zones” zero tolerance will apply with total quarantine in the slightest case and permanent surveillance of residents, and regular disinfection of buildings. At the Vietnamese border, several smugglers were arrested and exhibited in public (with their names displayed on signs hung around their necks) for having crossed the border illegally and “brought the virus” to China.
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Outside these areas, however, life would be “normal”, according to the Chinese authorities. But all places in contact with foreign countries would be affected. Enough to continue to disrupt logistics chains as has been the case in recent months. In Zhejiang province (in the east of the country), hundreds of factories have been shut down. And container transport, where crews are prohibited from disembarking, has also been severely hampered: deliveries, particularly to Europe, can take up to three months longer due to manufacturing and transport delays.
