When I was a child, the United States was the enemy, France was the enemy, the United Kingdom was the enemy, and the Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea were enemies… Later, India was the enemy, Taiwan, the brother of the same race, was also the enemy, and even the “Big Brother” Su Xiu became the enemy! I hate them. I want to be a soldier to beat them. Slowly, when I grew up, I couldn’t figure it out: Why do we have so many enemies? Now, I finally understand that we are the public enemies of the world!
What’s left of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement? Since the implementation of the 2020 National Security law, police have been arresting anti-regime activists en masse. Most are now in prison or in exile. Authorities dissuade and crack down on all forms of protest. But discreetly, some activists are determined to make their voices heard despite the risks.
Xi’s extraordinary backflip left analysts alarmed and confused. China was not the only country to choose a zero-Covid strategy, and certainly not the only one to “let it rip” once it dropped it. But it was the last, and global health experts say there were plenty of lessons it could have heeded – primarily, making sure vaccinations and health resources were high before the tsunami of cases hit.
“All governments had to decide to open up at some stage or risk the consequences of lockdowns far outweighing the problems of Covid,” says Professor Emma McBryde, an epidemiologist at James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
“Most models suggest that it would be better for the health system to open up slowly. Although there would be little change in how many people get infected, it could mean some lives are saved if the health system can function well.”
But Xi threw the gates open. Right up until the day of repeal, local governments were still developing and enforcing zero-Covid measures and infrastructure. The city of Chongqing was building a 21,000-bed quarantine centre.
Experts on health and Chinese politics have told the Observer they believe the local authorities were hamstrung. Any preparations for ending zero-Covid would be seen as a vote of no confidence in both the policy and Xi – an act of political suicide.
Last week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world¿s biggest public funding body for science, was criticised by an official watchdog for failing to keep tabs on US-sponsored virus experiments in Wuhan
Chinese authorities should immediately release and drop all charges against everyone detained for participating in the “white paper” protests against the government, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should also cease harassment of lawyers and friends of protesters and the censorship of protest-related information on social media.
— Read on www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/26/china-free-white-paper-protesters
There has been great concern that this year’s Spring Festival mass migration could quickly spread the coronavirus into more remote areas, to deadly effect.
The government warned those in the cities not to go home this year if their elderly relatives had not yet been infected.
Doctor Dong Yongming, who operates a very small village clinic, thinks at least 80% of residents there had already caught Covid.
“All the villagers come to us when they’re sick,” he said. “We’re the only clinic here.”
Most who had died there had underlying diseases, he said.
In terms of managing the medicine they had as Covid hit the village, Dr Dong said they would not sell medicine to people beyond their needs.
“For example, I would only give out four Ibuprofen tablets per person,” he said. “They don’t need two boxes. It’ll just be wasted.”
However he said he believed the worst of this Covid wave was already behind them: “We haven’t had any patients in recent days.”
Those who die in this region are buried in the fields. Farmers then continue to plant crops and raise livestock around the mounds of their ancestors.
Driving along the road we noticed fresh mounds of earth with red flags placed on the top. A lot of them. A farmer herding goats confirmed that they were new graves.
“Families have been burying elderly people here after they die. There are just too many,” he said.
“One day, we will raise this flag in our homeland,” Küseni says. “Are you ready?”
“Yes!” the children reply in unison, placing their right hands to their chests as the East Turkestan anthem “March of Salvation” plays. In Xinjiang that would also be illegal. Then the students crowd into an assembly hall where a carpeted stage, backed by lilac drapes and an arch of white flowers, has been arranged in front of rows of plastic chairs.
In the weeks following anti-zero Covid protests in Beijing, a protester made a video warning she could vanish. Soon after filming the video, she was arrested. CNN’s Selina Wang reports.
#ArunachalPradesh; Video footage from LAC #Yangtse area,Tawang Sector, how Indian Army chased away Chinese Army on 9th Dec 2022.
300 plus Chinese PLA Soldiers ran away leaving 25-30 soldiers behind who were than trashed by Indian Army's Sikh Reg't and Jat Regiment. #TawangSectorpic.twitter.com/9jwHkBFqqO
