Protests are widespread, families divided, people and animals abandoned, difficulties in accessing basic necessities. And again job loss, company bankruptcy, more and more emigration wishes. An Italian who has lived in Shanghai for 15 years tells us about the zero Covid China that led to the “A4 revolution”.
Turn on notifications to get updates
They call it the “A4 revolution” or the “white paper revolution”., the protest that has spread to major Chinese cities and provinces after the fire in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, that killed ten people. The demonstrators, who symbolically marched with empty sheets, attribute the fatality to that hard measures of zero covid policy which would have prevented people from seeking shelter and getting help due to widespread restrictions and lockdowns. We spoke to A Italian citizen who has been working with China for twenty years and has lived in Shanghai for the past 15 years, working in international trade. The interviewee has always spoken openly to the press, but recently he has opted for anonymity, “a symptom of an era that has changed rapidly and radically”.
In recent days, young Chinese have been protesting in main centers and in many areas of China. In Beijing they spoke of the “cultural revolution”, in Shanghai they besieged Urumqi Road and challenged the authorities. How do you see the situation?
The situation has visibly gotten out of hand. The accusations of the demonstrators are also credible because I have personally experienced how the authorities seal off entire buildings, areas or cities and thus prevent vital movements, for example to buy basic goods. There have been cases of dependent children left home alone because their parents were taken away by the authorities, not to mention families torn apart and pets abandoned. Then you have to see how they destroy the positive houses to be disinfected, they throw everything in the air like a search engine, they shoot chemical agents everywhere and in the end you have to throw away food, but also clothes, books, objects, furniture and who knows what else.
Covid Bulletin, the data on infections and deaths in Italy on Thursday 1 December, region by region
How is the perception in Shanghai?
I think they’ve arrested hundreds of people here over the last few days, obviously you don’t hear much about it in the state media, but we can assume that with temperatures dropping and even tighter police lockdowns, it will be difficult to carry out the protest, too when Jiang Zemin’s death seems to come at a good time. Both Jiang and Xi consolidated his power here before becoming president, and Shanghai was perhaps the area that suffered the most from the anti-Covid measures. For the protesters, the city leader who became Xi’s right-hand man – Li Qiang – was sold out to become the republic’s number two. In addition, these are different protests than in the past, in which the Hong Kong example certainly plays a role, so the outcome is certainly not predictable.
There are currently about 37,000 active cases in China, but the official death toll since the pandemic began is 5,223, compared to Italy’s current 492,000 cases and a toll of over 181,000. Aside from the possibility of questionable death counts given the same data, how do you interpret such a difference in countermeasures?
The zero-Covid policy has been much touted as a success by the government, but with the emergence of new variants that are less deadly but more contagious, it has become impossible to manage in such densely populated contexts. To me, the virus is an excuse for social control or Xi cannot claim he failed by losing face, which is the worst humiliation a Chinese can suffer. Cities with more than 20 million people have been shut down for a few dozen cases, most of which are asymptomatic.
Can you learn more about tracking measures?
We don’t need to download tracking apps like in Italy, we can use the most popular Chinese apps like Alipay and Wechat to scan us a code at the entrance to places that will report our position to the authorities, but the consequences are both civil and legal increasingly serious from a criminal point of view as well. They even call you to find out where you are going and what you are doing.
Do you have personal experiences that can help us better understand current events?
I happened to be stuck at home even though I was negative because I had passed near an area where there had been a person who had come into contact with a positive. A friend was shut down for 5 days because he met a colleague who lived in a building where an asymptomatic positive emerged. With this system and the daily exchanges that exist in a city like Shanghai, a single case can affect millions of people, turning their green codes into yellow or red codes. There is a very intuitive traffic light system, but even the green code does not always guarantee access to places and is even necessary to enter a public park. In the last 4 days I had four swabs (they are done in the throat) but I haven’t been able to go on business trips for months because I have to go through a 5-day quarantine for half an hour on the train. Something can happen from one moment to the next, you never know if you can still leave the house in an hour because they could close the premises because of an asymptomatic case or even no cases.
Have you ever ended up in an anti-Covid center?
Luckily no. They are often hotels or huge security areas set up as health facilities, but also remote gyms and fairgrounds with shared bathrooms and no heating. It is becoming difficult for thousands of people to brave the winter.
How is the dynamic developing? How do you perceive the mood of the population?
It is said that nothing will change until March, when the new government takes office, but I repeat, I do not know how many will survive the winter in similar conditions. A few weeks ago it seemed as if the measures would be relaxed, but this did not happen. Currently, positives are viewed as people who need to be judged as if it were a mistake, you are hated because your positivity will harm the lives of others. There are perhaps three types of Chinese that I have formulated on this subject: some are opposed, others are resigned and feel helpless, but most are confused and frightened. In one city, the mayor has lowered restrictions and mothers have not sent their children to school for fear of the virus. It’s not just about control now. But above all, the tests and management of Covid are worth billions, between structures, installations, operators, materials, disposal, security, we are talking about important points of GDP. Many businesses have left, but a shop has now opened up here that we need to understand how to proceed as lockdowns ease and the country’s growth crunches.
How is the zero covid policy being handled in schools?
It is very difficult there too, many parents are exhausted, many children give up childhood or grow up with relatives. I’ll tell you a recent anecdote. During the last Halloween for a case that occurred at Disneyland here in Shanghai, they blocked the entire audience including children until 11pm to test everyone and await the results. Some schools did not open in the days that followed, including my daughter’s school. She came back one day and then stayed at home all week even though there were no cases at her school just because of possible connections to the positive. Kids do about 6 tampons a week now they say they want to cut it down to 4 but it’s not sure yet.
However, the world is restarting, at the moment there is the World Cup and they are also very popular in China. How is this contrast experienced by Chinese and foreigners?
I honestly don’t think most Chinese are aware of a world that has restarted. I think only those who are able to evade censorship and get information from foreign media have this perception. I happened to see pictures of the World Cup on Chinese media and don’t remember seeing full stadiums, live broadcasts of similar events are never real-time here. The perception of foreigners has also deteriorated. We are much more exposed to hate campaigns, much less than before and consequently also more controlled. Reason why I prefer anonymity.
I remember that several years ago campaigns against Western influence were published in schools and universities, even with cartoons suggesting to beware of foreigners as potential spies. But today, which hate campaigns against foreigners do you mean?
There were several. A recent one was a campaign to stay away from foreigners because of monkeypox. They accuse us of using the VPN (software that disguises the identity of web users and allows them to bypass censorship) to reveal sensitive information, but when protests and disputes arise, the videos are first created and posted by the Chinese. Most of the foreigners like me that I knew three years ago have now left, I don’t think many will return and I see many others ready to return to Europe.
How has the situation changed since you arrived? How do you and your family live it? Would you like to stay longer?
If it was my wife, we would have gone by now. For her it is a return to the past and to the Cultural Revolution, she is Chinese and has always lived here between Beijing and Shanghai. My relationship with China started 20 years ago, I first arrived here when there was SARS and now I think I will walk away with its development, Covid. I’ve lived here permanently since 2007 and back then there was much more enthusiasm for design and innovation, a spirit that I felt was lost in Italy. But now I’m noticing the same kind of depression in people here, too.
An economically visible “depression”?
Especially on an economic level. Many companies are in a black crisis and are no longer able to pay their employees. Losing a job has become easier than finding one, a reversal of China a few years ago. Dozens of companies used to come every day, now dozens leave every day. Moving is becoming more and more difficult, everything is becoming more expensive and more difficult to access. Something has changed and many Chinese now want to emigrate. The standard of living is undoubtedly higher than it used to be, not for everyone, but for the majority. However, people pay dearly for this condition.