China unwinds Zhengzhou lockdown

Taken aback by anti-government protests raging in major cities across the country, Chinese authorities announced that they would ease their “Zero Covid” policy in some regions. It can be interpreted as a two-sided plan to suppress protests from the sources with strong crackdowns while gradually easing the lockdowns, which essentially led to the protests.

The government of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province in southern China, announced on Wednesday that residents of all regions except high-risk areas for Covid 19 would be allowed to go outside. The operation of public transportation services such as subways and city buses resumed. Supermarkets and beauty salons opened their doors. Crowded places such as movie theaters, libraries, and restaurants are also poised to open their services. The decision to unwind the restrictions came five days after the complete lockdown on Saturday. Workers at Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou, the world's largest iPhone production base, left en-masse or protested against the restrictions last month, demanding better treatment.

Beijing’s quarantine authorities said it would strictly forbid the act of blocking the entrances and fire passages in apartment complexes and buildings using iron fences. In addition, Guangzhou and Chongqing eased the requirement for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, which were compulsory almost every day. In Chongqing, residents of areas without any confirmed cases for recent five days are not required to get the PCR tests.

The State Council (government) of China announced on Monday that they were actively and effectively responding to various problems pointed out by the public.


Ki-Yong Kim kky@donga.com