The way the Chinese government is responding to protests against the COVID-19 lockdown clearly reveals the bare face of a closed and dictatorial pre-modern state. The CCP’s traditional suppression method of censorship, violence and manipulation is reactivated by completely ignoring the universal values of human rights and freedom.
According to foreign media, in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where the protests are taking place, public security is even censoring the mobile phones of passing citizens. This is to check if the virtual private network (VPN) used during the protests and foreign social media apps like Telegram and Instagram are installed. Tsinghua University, the alma mater of President Xi Jinping, anticipates the winter holidays and invites students to go home. There is also a case of night lights out in the city center and demand for nearby shops to be closed.
Unsurprisingly, Chinese police, who handcuffed, jailed and even beat up a British BBC reporter covering the protests, arrested and assaulted protesters. Suspicions of child computer manipulation by the Chinese government to cover up the truth are also raised. If you search for major protest sites like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc. in Chinese on Twitter, or “Urumqi,” the epicenter of this incident, painted pictures and prostitution spam are popping up.
The Chinese government should not try to seal the situation so violently and backwardly, but should start reviewing the corona quarantine policy even now. There are fears that if the lockdown is lifted, the number of confirmed cases and deaths will increase in the short term, but there is no other way than to work out a response plan by seeking cooperation from developed Western countries and receiving vaccines and medical services. This is the way to people’s health and life that the CCP demands so much.
“When an emergency occurs, all the great evils of human nature are revealed.” A Chinese writer documents the tragedy of Wuhan, which was locked down for 76 days in the early days of the coronavirus crisis. <우한 일기>is a phrase from The Chinese government should keep in mind that the world, which remembers the horrors of the Tiananmen Square massacre, is watching this situation closely.
