China's health authorities have given the first indications of some possible relaxation of their strict "zero COVID" policy after a wave of angry protests against health restrictions and in favour of more freedoms.
China's approach to the virus is facing "new circumstances and new tasks" thanks to the less dangerous nature of the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus and progress in vaccination, Vice President Sun Chunlan said yesterday, Wednesday, addressing the National Health Committee (NHC).
On Tuesday, Beijing had already decided to speed up vaccination of the elderly, which is still inadequate.
Sun[/B], one of the central figures of the Chinese strategy to deal with the pandemic, did not mention the zero COVID policy at all in her comments - according to her statements broadcast by the public news agency Xinhua which allows for hopes that this strategy, which has been disrupting the daily lives of Chinese people and the country's economy for three years, will soon be relaxed.
Outraged by the repeated locks and almost daily PCR tests for the new coronavirus, thousands of Chinese protested last weekend in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or even Wuhan, where the first cases were detected in December 2019.
For the communist authorities, this is the most widespread wave of protests in the country since the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
After their surprise, they called for a "crackdown" to contain this wave, but also appeared to give signs of some relaxation on the health policy front.
[BR][BR]Record numbers, but very small
As a result, in the industrial megacity of Guangzhou, in southern China, where there were clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces on Tuesday, the lockdown that has been in place for several weeks was lifted, despite a record number of infections.
This is because, although the numbers are indeed among the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic, they remain very low: 35.800 domestic cases were announced today in a population of 1.4 billion and the vast majority of cases are asymptomatic.Restrictions were relaxed to varying degrees in the 11 districts of Guangzhou, including Haiju, which was the focus of the mobilizations.
With the exception of some districts considered "high-risk", according to the local health committee, the others will be treated as low-risk zones.
The city of Chongqing, in central China, also announced Wednesday that those who came into contact with outbreaks and meet certain conditions will be allowed to stay quarantined at home, in a clear change from the policy in place until now, which required everyone - positive outbreaks and contacts of outbreaks - to go to quarantine centers.
These relaxation measures at the local level, like Sun's statements, "could be an indication that China is beginning to consider ending its strict zero COVID policy," analysts at ANZ Research opined in a note.
"We believe the Chinese authorities are moving to a live with COVID strategy, based on what the new rules suggest that allow people to be isolated at home instead of being moved to quarantine centers," they note.
This morning, two major Chinese newspapers published expert commentary reassuring that COVID is not dangerous in the majority of cases, following similar reports these past few days that seem to be preparing the population for a change of mindset.
Political demands
As we approach the third anniversary of the first cases of the new coronavirus being detected in Uhan, it is clear that residents are tired.
A deadly fire in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang province, sparked the weekend's protests as some internet users complained that health restrictions were hampering the work of emergency services.
But protesters also chanted political slogans, with some even calling for the resignation of President Xi Jinping, who last month secured an unprecedented third term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party and the country.
Tight information control by authorities and health restrictions on internal travel in China complicate estimates of the total number of protesters in the country.
Yet protest on this scale is a rarity in the country, given the crackdown on any form of direct opposition to the government.
The 1989 protests were ended in a bloody crackdown when the military intervened, centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Yesterday, in announcing the death of former President Xiang Zemin, who came to power just after Tiananmen, the Communist Party stressed its ability to restore calm during these protests.
Source: protothema.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
