Nothing has rocked the Chinese society under President Xi Jinping's leadership to date more than the "zero-COVID" policy which appears to have failed miserably as China is still struggling to cope with the daily rise in cases inside the country, according to Colombo Gazette.
The policy was introduced by the government in view of a resurge in coronavirus cases in China with 1,000 new cases being reported each day. The zero-COVID policy has, however, led to fear, anger, and confusion among Chinese citizens caused by repeated lockdowns in vast areas.
As a result of the policy, 31 Chinese cities are currently under lockdown, impacting the lives of over 232 million people across the Asian nation.
People are fearful about their livelihood as the government under the zero-COVID policy has continued with mass testing, quarantines and lockdowns. Many people have lost their jobs while others have seen a drastic change in their incomes. The lockdowns have also dealt a blow to the country's economy.
According to recent monthly surveys, sentiment among manufacturing and services businesses in China fell to the lowest since 2020.
According to the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, nearly 60 per cent of European businesses in the country said that they are cutting 2022 revenue projections as a result of COVID controls. Youth unemployment has reached a record 20 per cent while heavily indebted local governments are forced to spend on mass COVID testing, reported Colombo Gazette.
People have been sitting on the streets of Guangzhou to show their resistance to the Chinese government's anti-COVID policy.
Many people can be seen walking on streets, chanting slogans, in videos that went viral on social media platforms. People refused to go to quarantine centres.
People are also angry about the shortage of food, emergency medical care and other essential services in China's mega-cities.
According to the report in Colombo Gazette, in China's fight against Covid, one thing that Xi has so far been unwilling to do is to use foreign-made mRNA vaccines. Xi's government has touted self-reliance in fighting COVID, promoting domestic vaccines based on inactivated versions of the virus and barring all foreign ones from the market.
The report also said that a lack of transparency over Chinese vaccines' efficacy and waning durability has worried many Chinese as well. According to interviews and private social media chat groups seen by the Financial Times (report published on December 07, 2021), Chinese parents have over recent months quietly sought to resist giving consent for their children's shots.
Reports have also suggested that provincial and municipal governments in China claimed adverse reactions to Chinese vaccines in China including deaths and severe disability of the recipients.
( With inputs from ANI )
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