Chinese Protests Against COVID Restrictions
Chinese Protests Against COVID Restrictions: According to Iran Gate, in the first part of our narrative about what underlies the current events and public protests in China, we discussed specific aspects of the topic and the concept of protest in China, and the key foundations of social structures that have shaped the current state of these protests.
We mentioned that now, considering what has happened in recent months in China, certain policies have provoked public anger. This time, these policies have been crafted by the leadership of the ruling Communist Party. These specific issues make the current Chinese-style protests different from previous ones.
By the Emperor’s Order, Do Not Get Sick
Chinese policy-making and the implementation of policies within the framework of the Communist Party’s management are intertwined with various concepts and issues. Specifically, the era of Xi Jinping’s undisputed leadership marks a new period of redefining fundamental concepts and issues in politics and party ideology. This redefinition of concepts should be traced back to the early years of Xi Jinping’s rise to power, where he introduced his unique and special concepts to create a new era in the history of the Communist Party of China, influencing Chinese political discourse and policy-making and implementation.
Specifically, the Chinese leader introduced new concepts regarding economic justice, and on the international stage, he paved the way for new development-oriented Chinese investments in less developed countries. This specific framework of Chinese policies, based on Mr. Xi’s political discourse, was gradually established by his subordinates so that when the major periodic party congress began this year, the stage was set for the unveiling of Xi Jinping’s thoughts. This special title, which is inscribed on party pamphlets, is not merely formal or ceremonial.
The thoughts of the great leader are a unique concept that all of Mao’s successors wished to have unveiled in their name in party literature, but they never reached the necessary exalted and dominant position for it. Xi Jinping has achieved such dominance that he is now the owner of leadership thought and the theorist of the Communist Party’s and China’s future path. Chinese policy experts call him the Emperor of China.
With such dominance, during the time when the COVID crisis shook the world in 2019 and 2020, this crisis, which originated in Xi Jinping’s country, was the greatest threat to the internal and international position of the Communist Party and its leader. The first sign of the COVID crisis was the announcement of a full lockdown of Wuhan and the isolation of this region.
Images of cars fleeing Wuhan, naturally carrying the virus with their occupants to other areas, were the first scenes broadcast by international journalists of the COVID crisis as it was unfolding. Alongside the fluctuating policies of European countries and the United States, China devised its own unique plan for citizen lockdown, basing its policy on maximum control of the spread and mortality, relying on statistical management.
These policies naturally aimed more than anything at controlling citizens and preserving the image of the party and its leader by engineering statistics. While a significant portion of European countries and many areas in the United States experienced complete urban lockdowns and shutdowns, the frightening scenes of the Chinese version of lockdown and bitter shutdown were not particularly alarming.
However, as the years 2021 and 2022 progressed, with the growth of vaccination and increased public immunity, various countries around the world, which had been in lockdown and shutdown, began to reopen their economies and societies. China and its leader did not unlock. The Emperor’s order was clear: the mortality rate, which was relatively acceptable and noteworthy compared to the US and Europe, had to remain low. The structure of testing, control, and regional quarantine became so severe that its impact was quickly evident at every stage of intensified restrictions.
The World Grew Weary of Xi Jinping
It is hard to imagine that if Vladimir Putin and his army’s invasion of Ukraine had not occurred, Xi Jinping and his policies would not have been recognized as the most significant factor in igniting the international economy and livelihood. What the so-called zero-COVID policy did to the production and distribution cycle in China and, naturally, in the world, is one of the most peculiar economic, industrial, and commercial interactions of recent decades.
For consecutive months, one of the biggest crises was the ships stranded in the waters around China, waiting to load or unload and unable to anchor. The production and distribution of many goods in international markets were severely affected by widespread shutdowns in China, while in 2022, the world gradually finalized the reopening of society and the economy, and many returned to normal or at least relatively normal life and work. China continued to emphasize the continuation of crises with its zero-COVID policy.
Adjustments in COVID policies and widespread lockdowns with relative fluctuations were pursued as a strategy and beyond that as a central policy in China.
In this context, the summer of the ending year witnessed other crises as well. Extreme heat in various parts of China caused a drop in the power production cycle, affecting factories and production. This was while very important economic regions of China, such as Shanghai, experienced new lockdowns, and new troubles arose for major companies that had concentrated their productions in China.
There Is a Vaccine, But It’s Not Good, Stay at Home
One of the main reasons for the Chinese people’s entrapment in the cage of lockdown and the chains of Xi Jinping’s COVID policy was the inefficiency of Chinese vaccines in combating the increasingly diverse and growing types of the COVID virus. The zero-COVID policy and insistence on lockdowns and multiple repeated testing indirectly suggested that the widespread vaccination of people in China with their produced vaccines had not been very beneficial.
Specifically, it should be noted that the approach of European and American countries towards Chinese officials clearly demonstrated this point. Many diplomatic interactions and usual trips, which had become common among countries after the end of the COVID crisis, took place in the absence of Chinese officials. It was clearly evident that the Chinese were not considered immune. The supreme leader of China was not seen without a mask, and wherever he went with his wife, it was apparent that he was concerned about contracting COVID.
Thus, the main strategy for controlling the spread and presenting impressive statistics was quarantine and testing. Quarantines that suddenly completely closed off an area, and this policy has continued to this day. Western journalists’ narratives about the changing mood and approach of the Chinese towards the zero-COVID policy and the prevailing situation in their country are noteworthy. For many months in the first half of last year, the Chinese people were relatively satisfied with the apparent results and statistics presented about the impacts of the zero-COVID policy. Their country had managed to stand up to the West, and the number of deaths and infections was less than the enemies of their leader’s great ideals. Gradually, the situation changed.
The Olympics were held, festivals and celebrations were launched in various countries. Factories and various businesses in East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe flourished, while the Chinese were trapped at home. This is how Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy tightened the space for those imprisoned in their homes, and whispers of dissatisfaction began. November this year witnessed the formation of the main wave of discontent. Employees and workers in the most important industrial areas were suddenly quarantined, and the world’s most important Apple company factory was abruptly shut down.
Workers and employees clashed with security forces. After that, another event brought the situation to a peak of severity: a fire in an urban area claimed several lives, and one of the main factors in the residents’ victimization was the quarantine rules and locks that made escape and rescue difficult. Protests intensified, and various cities became scenes of the Chinese people’s anger, who just wanted to be freed from these COVID restrictions and be allowed to move.
In early December, following public protests, Xi Jinping is apparently adjusting some of the heavy rules and protocols. He takes pride in his zero-COVID policy and not only did not back down, but promoted one of the main managers of this policy to the main leadership cadre of the Communist Party and the country of China. There is a particular value within this zero-COVID policy and maximum social control that must be examined based on citizen control policies to understand the importance of COVID as a pretext for controlling citizens in China.
In the next part of the report, we will examine the zero-COVID policy as a main and central program and policy of the Communist Party, and we will see that in reality, it is citizen control that is the main basis for implementing such policies. The Chinese citizen control program, which has also been exported to many countries.