French expatriates in China deprived of voting due to confinement

For a week, the streets of Shanghai have been deserted, no one can leave their home, due to confinement. It is difficult under these conditions to imagine that the municipality will authorize, on Sunday April 10, 5200 French people to cross the city to go to the four polling stations set up at the French consulate and vote for the first round of the presidential election. Consul Benoît Guidée discusses with the Chinese authorities, but without much hope. “We have offered local authorities an exemption system for going to votehe explains. We have proposed it, we are discussing it. For the moment, we do not have a positive answer. It’s very difficult to obtain.”

>> Covid-19: In Shanghai, residents face a new strict containment

The French in Shanghai do not hide their disappointment and hope that the confinement will be lifted for the second round. “We are a little disappointed, a little frustrated, that’s for sure”, says Mathieu, a French expat in Shanghai.

“Even being far away, we still want to participate in the political life of the country. To also think that there could be certain solutions put in place.”

Mathieu, a Frenchman living in Shanghai

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“And then finally, you realize that it’s not going to be the case, regret this expatso we’re frustrated.” Containment, initially announced as a progressive and localized measure, seems set to drag on. “As part of a zero Covid policy, we must all be aligned, considers for his part David, also based in Shanghai. PPersonally, I would prefer that we could have a free pass, but we must not either be stigmatized and that it creates tensions.

The situation is not about to get better. On Wednesday, a new record was broken with more than 20,000 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in Shanghai.