The 25 million people in the Chinese megacity have been forced into strict isolation to fight covid. In several areas, riots and looting by residents in search of food have been reported.
The “zero covid” policy of the Chinese authorities has had an explosive effect on the population of Shanghai, which has been confined for 22 days due to a covid outbreak. In this city of 25 million inhabitants, demonstrations of exasperation have multiplied and there have even been reports of looting of emergency food supply centers.
Strict sanitary measures prohibit any exit to public space, except to buy food and then only once a day. Numerous videos have circulated on the Internet and social networks of people complaining about having nothing to eat, and criticizing the operations of transporting contaminated people, sometimes by force, to isolation centers.
Faced with this extreme situation, the U.S. embassy in China reported on Saturday that it will allow the departure from its consulate in Shanghai of its non-essential staff “due to an outbreak of covid-19 cases and the impact of restrictions” and criticized the measures to contain the virus as “arbitrary”.
In response, Beijing expressed “its displeasure and firm opposition to the unfounded accusations by the United States about China’s epidemic control policy,” according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.
Here are some videos that show how Chinese authorities are able to keep millions of people under a strict lockdown, using repression and violence:
Residents in #Shanghai screaming from high rise apartments after 7 straight days of the city lockdown. The narrator worries that there will be major problems. (in Shanghainese dialect—he predicts people can’t hold out much longer—he implies tragedy).pic.twitter.com/jsQt6IdQNh
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) April 10, 2022
Breaking⚠️⚠️ In #china‘s #Shanghai, massive of starving rioters are ransacking and looting a supermarket. People suddenly demanded freedom and civil rights. Covid Revolution is uprising. pic.twitter.com/fD37uGme3Z
— Rob (@vaccinisgenocid) April 9, 2022
That’s what is happing in #Shanghai. Men in white are not police, yet they are empowered by their costumes to treat people like this. #CCP #ZeroCovid #XiJinping pic.twitter.com/AgH2O7MdIq
— Quantumist-Sam (@martingalequant) April 11, 2022
COVID-19 LOCKDOWN – SHANGHAI: The quarantined #Shanghai People are starving, but all food are wasted in Logistics warehouse, man-made disaster. pic.twitter.com/PY6AWOeXft
— Himalaya News Voices 🚨 (@himalayavoices) April 8, 2022