INTRODUCTION
After the initial COVID outbreak in Wuhan 2 years ago, China has made a massive effort to reduce the impact it has had and is still having on both China and the world today, by adopting one of the strictest COVID policies in the world. Their approach has been proven effective since the last outbreak with astronomically low new COVID cases daily, however, in the last couple of months, there has been an unexpected outbreak in Shanghai leading to the entire financial hub to go into a strict lockdown. How will this lockdown affect the Chinese socioeconomic state, and how will the short- and long-lasting effects shape China for months, or even years, to come?
David Culver finally leaves Shanghai after spending 3 years providing first hand accounts of how China is handling COVID-19. In this video, he reflects on how the current outbreak is being handled in Shanghai, with unreasonably strict COVID policies and an enforced lockdown. While the video seems to be biased towards a Western audience, thus there seems to be an inherent negative view of China and China's actions, it seems to be fairly accurate with videos depicting China's improper preparation and handling of the situation.
Shanghai lockdown is more like a kill of humanity's mind. Nathan (火锅大王), in the video, fails to present the true pictures happened in Shanghai these days. His main point of view is that although the lockdown policy might be unpopular, it has saved millions of Chinese people’s life. Nathan mentioned that 25% of Chinese caught COVID, and around 1 percent died. However, this calculation is not true. For instance, the seemingly 1 percent death rate counted in the number people who died because of chronic diseases. Thus, actual death rate should be much lower.
In this Vice video, two individuals, stuck in Shanghai's lockdown, give their take and perspective on the lockdown. While they speak about the horrors of what they witness happening, both in person as well as through their extensive use of social media, they provide insight into the broader Chinese public's view of the lockdown. First hand accounts and testimonies from the two individuals depict daily COVID testing, lack of food, separation of families, mistreatment of the people, and lack, false, or censorship of information. With the government's disorganized and abrupt lockdown of Shanghai which gave people little time to prepare, especially with the lockdown staying put for much longer than expected, will the public's outrage be a breaking point for the lockdown?
This video mainly shows some violent sceneries under Shanghai Lockdown. Unfortunately, all these scenes are real. In fact, I believe such lockdown policy is way too strict and is against humanity. For instance, as is mentioned in the video, many people showed their negative attitude because of the lack of food. Indeed, before publishing such policy, the government failed to inform every citizen in Shanghai about this. As a result, many citizens didn't store enough food at their home, and they could spend much much more money to purchase food from two-way merchants. Besides, this policy was too sudden that many situations were not considered, such as how to send a person with acute symptoms to hospital (how to check his or her 48-hour covid-19 testing result). With all these, this lockdown policy has caused complantion and disatisfaction among people.
Shanghai has begun to lift the strict lockdown with millions of residents ecstatic to finally leave their apartments in over two months. Despite residents' excitement, we see the lasting harm the stringent lockdown has had on the people. There are frequent checkpoints that require a negative COVID test before being allowed to travel any further and millions are still under some form of lockdown. According to the anonymous interview, the mother's child now has depression as a result of the lockdown which raises the question of how many others have developed depression, or experienced other forms of mental and/or physical health problems. While Shanghai is beginning to open back up and there are plans to revitalize the city, will Shanghai revert to another strict lockdown if COVID cases rise? And how will the lasting effects of lockdowns play a role in the public's opinion and willingness to comply?
This video is presented from a personal perspective, so it is of great authenticity. Combined with words from one of friend living in Shanghai, I can confirm his words real and persuasive. One thing to notice in this video is the waste of those vegetables donated by other provinces. The most common explanation is because of the corruption. These vegetables are donated, so they should be sent to citizens in Shanghai with no charge. However, the reality is that Shanghai citiznes needed to spend hundreds of yuan to purchase one package of vegetables. In this process, some packages are TOO expensive, and no one was willing to purchase, and thus, they rotated and are dropped, as shown in the video. In my own opinion, under such lockdown policy, the government should cooperate with citizens, instead of letting some officials satisfy their own financial needs.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, China had maintained one of the strictest COVID policies in the world which contributes to its virtually nonexistent daily new COVID cases, a significant accomplishment when compared to Western countries like the US. This video provides some insight into how the residents and financial hubs are coping and a possible explanation as to why these COVID policies are still in place. Residents are either confined to their homes and forced to participate in group buying to get enough food, or to keep the economy from a standstill, workers are working in a closed-loop system where workers are not allowed to leave the factory unless there is an emergency. As for why these COVID policies are still in place, a plausible explanation is the upcoming National Party Congress which will shape China for years to come and this zero-COVID policy, with its success thus far, is likely to remain at least until the end of this Congress. With the major political stakes and competition to prove that China's political system is superior to Western countries, what will happen to China's already wavering socioeconomic state?
The main idea of the host in this video is that the harsh COVID-19 policy in China results in people's reluctance in giving birth to babies. By listing statistics, she pointed out that the birth rate in China is decreasing these years, similar to that of Japan, and the population of old people has occupied 18% of the total population. However, in my own point of view, it is not true. If we look back at the birth rate previous to the COVID-19, it has already been decreasing. Besides, China has a large population base. So even though the birth rate decreases, the number of people born each year is still a large number. Although the population crisis does exist, there is no connection between China's harsh COVID-19 lockdowns and it.
In the wake of loosening lockdown restrictions and the slow, but eventual return to "normal" life in Shanghai, residents are now being required to take a PCR test before being able to travel in public places and some places are even reinstating the lockdown until the testing is over. Residents are scared that this lockdown will be just as poorly managed as the last one with people not receiving enough food, families separating, improper care of the sick and elderly, and many more horrors of the initial Shanghai lockdown. The brief reopening of Shanghai have given the residents their first taste of freedom after more than two grueling months and it poses the question, will the public peacefully abide by another lockdown or will they protest and demonstrate that they are unwilling to re-live that experience.
This video is published several days ago after Shanghai government cancel the lockdown policy. This short video mainly presents Shanghai citizens' daily life after this. As is shown in the video, people act like new kids born to the new world, curious about almost everything outside. At the same time, according to my friend, she said that she immediately went to hair salon to get hair cut. The video is full of happiness and joyfulness. But we need to think, how can such a normal life make people living in an advanced city so happy? As for me, if similar policies are introduced again in the future, changes need to be made. For example, people should be allowed to go out and walk the dog, which can help people keep in touch with the outside world.