(Shanghai) China decided on Tuesday to speed up the vaccination of the elderly against COVID-19, two days after historic demonstrations against health restrictions and for more freedoms, the police presence in the streets preventing any new gathering.
The National Health Commission, which acts as a ministry, has pledged to “accelerate the increase in vaccination rates for people aged over 80 and continue to increase the vaccination rate for people aged 60 to 79 years old”.
Only 65.8% of people over 80 are fully vaccinated, officials of this Commission said at a press conference, while Beijing has still not approved RNA vaccines, deemed more effective.
The insufficient rate of vaccination in China, particularly among the elderly, is one of the arguments put forward by the government to justify its strict health policy, with repeated confinements, quarantines on arrival from abroad and tests quasi -daily for the population.
Fixing it could just offer China a way out to “zero COVID-19”.
In effect for almost three years, this policy was the target of demonstrations that took place this weekend in several cities, the most widespread protest movement since the pro-democracy mobilizations of 1989.
Also in the background, deep frustrations with the Chinese political system, as shown by the slogans chanted by the crowd, some demanding the resignation of President Xi Jinping and the departure of the ruling Communist Party.
The trigger: a fatal fire last week in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region (Northwest). Health restrictions are accused of having prevented the work of the relief workers, arguments swept away by the government on Monday.
“Too strict”
After a turbulent weekend in many cities across the country, several protests were planned for Monday evening but did not take place, with AFP journalists in Beijing and Shanghai observing a heavy police presence.
In Shanghai, near where the crowds gathered on Sunday, bar workers in the area told AFP they had been ordered to close at 10 p.m. due to “epidemic control”. “.
Groups of agents stood near each subway exit.
Monday, during the day, AFP journalists saw the arrest of four people, one of whom was later released.
“The policy (zero COVID-19) is really too strict,” a 17-year-old young man told AFP, who did not wish to give his name. “It kills more people than COVID-19,” he added, reflecting the weariness of much of the population.
Monday in Beijing, the deployment of police by car and on foot, with the help of a network of surveillance cameras but also the ambient cold, also discouraged any new gathering.
Some have managed to come together, however, notably in Hong Kong – rocked in 2019 by pro-democracy demonstrations – where dozens of people paid tribute, at the Chinese University, to the victims of the fire in Urumqi, noted the AFP.
“Don’t look away, don’t forget!” “, they chanted.
And in Hangzhou, a city 170 kilometers southwest of Shanghai, security forces were also visible as small protests broke out, according to images circulating on social media, some of which were geotagged by AFP. .
“It was really a mess,” a participant told AFP, who assured that 10 people had been arrested. “There was a lot of police presence, it was chaos”.
“The pretext of COVID-19”
The authorities’ strict control over information and health restrictions on travel within the country make it difficult to verify the total number of demonstrators over the weekend.
But such a widespread uprising is extremely rare in China, given the crackdown on any form of opposition to the government.
It immediately caught the attention of the international community.
US President Joe Biden said he was “informed of what is happening” “closely”.
In the United States, Chinese and Uyghur communities (from the Xinjiang region) held vigils in honor of the victims of the excesses of the zero COVID-19 policy.
“Authorities are using COVID-19 as an excuse, but using strict lockdowns to control the Chinese population,” a 21-year-old Chinese participant, who only gave her last name, Chen, told AFP.
If Beijing is maintaining its strict anti-COVID-19 policy for the moment, a few gestures of relaxation have appeared in recent days.
In Urumqi on Tuesday, residents could once again travel by bus to do their shopping, after weeks of confinement in this city of four million inhabitants.
The city of Beijing has banned “the practice of blocking the doors of buildings in closed residential complexes”, according to the Xinhua News Agency, a process that has fueled popular anger.
An influential state media commentator hinted that controls could soon be eased following the protests.
“China could emerge from the shadow of COVID-19 sooner than expected,” said Hu Xijin, columnist and former editor of the nationalist tabloid Global Times, via Twitter, a banned platform in China.