Category: lockdown

Under COVID-19 Lockdown, Xinjiang Residents Complain of Hunger

BEIJING—Residents of a city in China’s far western Xinjiang region say they are experiencing hunger, forced quarantines, and dwindling supplies of medicine and daily necessities after more than 40 days in a virus lockdown. Hundreds of posts from Ghulja riveted users of Chinese social media last week, with residents sharing videos of empty refrigerators, feverish…


Over 300 Million in 74 Cities Under COVID Lockdown Ahead of China’s 20th Party Congress

Since late August, more than 300 million people in at least 74 cities in China have been placed under full or partial lockdown. A Chinese think tank criticized the move, describing it as having high social and economic costs to the country. The widespread shutdown comes as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prepares for its…


Toddler Dies Amid Strict COVID Lockdown in China’s Xinjiang, Netizens Blast Authorities

The tragic death of a 17-month-old boy in Yining city last month has caused outrage on Chinese social media. The boy’s father accused the local hospitals of negligence, and netizens criticized authorities for their strict COVID-19 lockdowns. Yining—a city in China’s western Xinjiang region—had been under complete lockdown since July 30, when authorities reported 10 asymptomatic…


Scottish MP who ‘Wilfully Ignored’ COVID-19 Rules Avoids Jail Sentence

An MP who travelled by train from London to Scotland after testing positive for COVID-19 has avoided a jail sentence and been ordered to do 270 hours of community service. On Tuesday a judge at Glasgow Sheriff Court told Margaret Ferrier, 62, she had “wilfully ignored” the rules but he felt it was inappropriate to…


Protests Break Out in Wuhan, Residents Demand Lifting of Lockdowns

Residents in a locked down region of China’s Wuhan took to the streets on Sept. 4 confronting police and security guards to protest against an ongoing closure of their communities amid a recent COVID-19 outbreak. Wuhan, the capital city of China’s central Hubei Province where the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out, imposed this latest round…


China’s Shenzhen to Adopt Tiered COVID-19 Measures

BEIJING/SHANGHAI—China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen said it will adopt tiered anti-virus restriction measures starting on Monday as the country grapples with fresh outbreaks. Shenzhen, which went into a weekend lockdown on Saturday, announced a new round of COVID-19 testing. Separately, Chengdu, which placed its 21 million people under lockdown on Thursday, said the city…


UK Parliament’s Partygate Probe ‘Fundamentally Flawed’: Government Lawyer

A UK Parliamentary investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s partygate scandal is “unfair” and “fundamentally flawed,” a top lawyer hired by the government has argued. The probe being conducted by the Privileges Committee of the House of Commons aims to establish whether Johnson committed contempt of Parliament by telling the House on several occasions that…


Chinese Think Tank Challenges Zero-Covid and Warns of Economic Stillness

A Chinese think tank openly challenged Beijing’s strict zero-Covid measures with an online post on Chinese social media WeChat and Weibo that warned the policy would cause an “economic stall.” The Anbound Research Center said, “Preventing the risk of economic stall should be the priority task,” in a report titled, “It’s Time for China to…


China Locks Down World Largest Electronics Market Under ‘Zero-COVID’ Policy

China’s ruling communist party (CCP) has locked down the world’s largest electronics market and the urban districts in its megacity Shenzhen, which is China’s economic center. Meanwhile, a Chinese think tank warned of major risks to China’s economy, calling on the authorities to change the “zero-COVID” policy to help economy. After 11 local COVID-19 cases…


China’s Chongqing City Forced to Lift Lockdown Amid Strong Protests

Large crowds of people took to the street on the night of Aug. 27, preparing to storm the barricades that blocked them from leaving their community in a subdistrict in China’s southwestern metropolis Chongqing. Lianfang subdistrict of Chongqing’s Shapingba district was locked down on Aug. 18. After 10 consecutive days of negative PCR tests of…