By Shanghai Residents Rebel As Cases Surge, Lockdown Extended ‘Indefinitely’
(by Tyler Durden | Zero Hedge) – China’s NHC reiterated its commitment to its “dynamic” zero-tolerance policy on Wednesday as local authorities in Shanghai confirmed the worst fears of the financial hub’s approximately 26 million residents: what was initially introduced as a 9-day staggered lockdown has been extended “indefinitely” as the number of newly confirmed cases soared to a new record on Tuesday.
Authorities counted more than 13,000 new cases in Shanghai alone, more than half of the 20,000+ new cases across the entire country. According to Bloomberg, these tallies have surpassed the toll from the early days of the pandemic, when the virus was still raging in Wuhan.
To be sure, the surge in cases is partially a factor of the latest mass-testing regime, but that hasn’t stopped the CCP from imposing the most draconian lockdown since Wuhan (as we explained earlier, backing down would be an intolerable capitulation for President Xi and local authorities, whose careers are now in jeopardy due to factors that are completely out of their control).
Following an unceasing torrent of scandals, including separating COVID positive children from their parents, covering up nursing home deaths and failing to address shortages of food and medicine, the population of Shanghai has reached its breaking point.
Many have accused the CCP of violating its contract with the people. And in one particularly memorable scene, thousands of Shanghaiers took to their balconies to chant in protest, in defiance of the CCP’s lockdown strictures.
Depictions of the truly dystopian scene spread like wildfire on American social media…
Shanghai’s 25 million people under lockdown indefinitely. Chinese social media shows some breaking out of lockdown to protest, chanting: “we want freedom”; “why are you starving us?”
Much of the dissent is censored. Most of videos in our story were erased from the internet @cnn pic.twitter.com/QUHrfqEhiG— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) April 6, 2022
…as locals chanted from their balconies, government drones responded and warned them to retreat inside and not “open their windows” (apparently a violation of the lockdown rules).
As seen on Weibo: Shanghai residents go to their balconies to sing & protest lack of supplies. A drone appears: “Please comply w covid restrictions. Control your soul’s desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing.” https://t.co/0ZTc8fznaV pic.twitter.com/pAnEGOlBIh
— Alice Su (@aliceysu) April 6, 2022
Unable to even walk their dogs, stories of locals allowing their dogs to poop and pee inside their apartments have spread like wildfire. Here’s more from Al Jazeera:
Now five days into the latest lockdown, Vicky, who prefers not to share her family name, has found herself doing something entirely unexpected: trying to convince a friend’s rescue dog, Mocha, that it is ok to go to the toilet inside her apartment.
“She is currently staring at me right now with sad puppy eyes like ‘why aren’t we going out?’ and I don’t know how to explain it to her,” Vicky told Al Jazeera by Skype. “So far, I have just tried to communicate to her that one, if you poop on the floor, I won’t be mad at you, and two, if you pee and bathroom it’s fine, I will just hose it down. It’s not a big deal.”
