As a COVID-19 outbreak triggered by Omicron swept through China’s largest city, millions of people were confined to their homes. In a spooky lockdown that erupted in central Wuhan city in 2020 after the virus first appeared, desperate calls for help were not heeded or rejected as authorities pledged to eradicate the virus as part of China’s so-called “zero COVID” strategy. . But as people in Wuhan began to show anger and frustration over the outbreak and the authorities’ harsh response, Shanghai residents challenged an approach that has disrupted food supplies, torn families apart and strained doctors. With most of the rest of the world trying to live off the virus, people in Shanghai visited calendars, videos, audio, WeChat notes and Weibo posts to express their frustration and ask if the endless restriction made sense. But in a country where public speech and social media are tightly controlled, the Chinese government soon decided it was enough, firing a cat-and-mouse game between the city’s censors and restless creative citizens, recalling the government’s previous battle to control the flow of information. outside Wuhan. Much of the information removed by the censors spoke of the desperation in Shanghai, including many calls for help from citizens: patients undergoing dialysis begging to be admitted to hospitals, families running out of food and a cancer patient from chemotherapy, but he was not barred from entering her apartment due to the lockdown. Healthcare workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) are some of the only people on the streets of Shanghai, which has been under severe lockdown for most of the month. [Hector Retamal/AFP] A post, which was quickly removed, offered a glimpse of the dangers faced by those who had other illnesses that died because their COVID-19 test was not negative and they were not admitted to the hospital. In another article entitled “Asking for help”, an Internet user urging the government to pay more attention to food supply wrote, “In a city of 25 million people, even if 99% of them met the basic needs “There would still be 250,000 people whose needs have fallen by the wayside.” The next day he had disappeared from the internet. A sense of despair and anger reigned as censors frantically continued to delete posts and articles that they feared posed a threat to the “stability” so much valued by the ruling Communist Party. “The primary goal of CCP censorship is to prevent large-scale collective action,” said Zachary Steinert-Thelkeld, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who studies protest movements and the internet. “Censorship is counterproductive if one believes that the goal is to prevent the spread of lockdown resentment, but it is productive if it prevents upset people from coordinating action outside their homes.”
‘Stand up’
In an attempt to trick the authorities, some people tried to repost deleted articles or comments using different methods, such as uploading a mirror image of the original photos or translating articles into English to share bold messages on social media. “Get up, those who do not want to be enslaved” – the front line of the Chinese national anthem – suddenly became a very bold proposal to see on social media, making the rounds of Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, before the topic was wiped. “I want to say to those in charge of censorship: the regime you support is s ** t, the work you do is s ** t, the work you do is despised by everyone, every post you delete is a sphere that “You’re throwing yourself, you’re an accomplice and you’re not innocent,” a Weibo user wrote, and the post was soon shared, a testament to the outrage in Shanghai. “He looked like Wuhan again and I still have a hard time understanding why the censors would delete posts that were basically just people asking for help,” Billy, a Shanghai resident who asked to use a pseudonym, told Al Jazeera. “None of this makes sense.” But experts say it makes sense for the Chinese government, which aims to prevent any kind of mass movement that could potentially threaten its sovereignty. “This has happened many times in the past: there is a public outcry and censors are trying to eliminate criticism and then people are angry about censorship,” Wang Yaqiu, a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. . “But if you look at the history, none of this public unrest has turned into substantial protests. “At the moment, people are angry, but over time, when censorship becomes more severe, the government will be able to reduce the commotion,” he added. Fueled by their frustration with the apparent failure of city officials to maintain food supply and the government’s commitment to “zero COVID”, Shanghai residents have proved unusually vocal. “Shanghaiers need to realize that other countries have adopted more relaxed approaches to COVID, especially in 2022, and may feel that there are less rigid policy options available to the CCP,” Steinert-Threlkeld added.
Voices of April
Shanghai is also the most international city in China and home to some of the country’s most educated people, as well as a large number of foreigners and an army of influences on social media. “These people are more inclined to make their voices heard and they have the means to do so,” Wang said. Infection pockets are now being discovered in Beijing as the Omicron variant tests the Chinese government’s “zero COVID” policy. [Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo] The culmination of the censorship came on April 22 when a video called Voices of April appeared on Chinese social media. A collection of recordings set against the backdrop of a black-and-white aerial view of a Shanghai resort, Voices of April recounted the city’s ordeal in about six minutes, capturing the raw emotions of life under lockdown in the once-bustling city. “Give us supplies,” shout the restricted residents from their windows. “Can I take some antipyretic drugs? “My child has a high fever, but the hospitals do not give us a fever,” another woman was heard knocking on one door. “The virus will not kill us, but hunger will kill us,” says one man. “What if there is a fire? What are we doing? “I’m really sorry, sir. I have called all the numbers I could, and there is nothing I can do. “I’m sorry,” sighed a local official as he spoke to a resident who complained about the lockdown. The shocking video was soon removed from the internet in China, although it continued to make the rounds on Twitter and Instagram – two platforms that are blocked in mainland China. For a long time, almost all the articles and posts shared on the WeChat Moments Feed, roughly the equivalent of the Facebook Feed, were labeled “non-promotional” because they “broke the rules.” “Voices of April” is a video that contains edited audio clips that show the reality of a Shanghai afflicted by Covid, where residents struggle with feelings of weakness. The video entered every corner of WeChat, but soon disappeared. Read: pic.twitter.com/2z2NTAASYw – What’s on Weibo (@WhatsOnWeibo) April 22, 2022 As April drew to a close, more than 12 million people in Shanghai were informed on Friday that they could leave their homes – under certain conditions. However, more than five million remain under severe lockdown and there are few signs of the much-publicized “normal life” that the Chinese government has long boasted was possible due to its “zero COVID” strategy. “You should feel lucky to be living in China during the pandemic,” Zhao Lijian, a foreign ministry spokesman, told a news conference during a press conference late last year as the rest of the world faced growing cases. In the midst of the Shanghai epidemic and the emergence of small clusters of infections in Beijing, many Chinese people no longer feel so lucky. As authorities in Beijing announced massive trials, Shanghai residents affected by the lockdown had a warning for people in the capital. “Please refill your fridge now, leave Beijing now if you can, and whatever happens, do not believe everything the government tells you,” Ding, a Shanghai resident, wrote on WeChat shortly after the announcement. campaign.
