Images of maskless crowds at the World Cup in Qatar have sparked anger in China, where people worn out by harsh Covid-19 restrictions are questioning their government's exceptional approach while the rest of the world lives alongside the virus.
China is the last major economy still attempting to stamp out the domestic spread of Covid-19, and has continued to shut down entire cities, seal off neighbourhoods and impose mandatory tests on millions.
Driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, daily cases in the country hit 29,157 on Wednesday — low compared to most other countries but nearing the domestic record set earlier this year.
Authorities have put more than a quarter of the Chinese population under some form of lockdown as of Tuesday, according to Nomura analysts — a contrast with the raucous World Cup crowds that have infuriated many Chinese social media users.
A Guangdong-based user on the Twitter-like Weibo platform wrote on Wednesday:
"Some people are watching World Cup matches in person with no masks, some have been locked at home for a month, locked on campus for two months without even being able to step out the door. Who has stolen my life? I won't say."Another Weibo user from Shaanxi province said they were "disappointed" in their country.
"The World Cup has allowed most Chinese people to see the real situation abroad, and worry about the economy of the motherland, and their own youth."An open letter questioning the country's Covid-19 policies and asking if China was "on the same planet" as Qatar spread on the popular WeChat messaging app on Tuesday, before censors removed it from the platform.
World Cup matches are aired in China by state-owned CCTV — the same broadcaster that has bombarded domestic audiences with negative reports of mass deaths and chaos caused by Covid in geopolitical rival the United States. The open letter asks:
"Nigeria's anti-epidemic work has clear results... we don't learn from Nigeria, and only look at US data, what is the real meaning of this for our epidemic prevention?"Public anger over the seemingly arbitrary restrictions and sudden disruptions has recently erupted in rare protests, including in southern China's Guangzhou this month where hundreds of residents took to the streets in defiance of a compulsory lockdown.
Reader Comments
The same AFP that participated in spreading the "Safe And Effective" myth for two years ?
F*CK OFF !!!
What does this mean? We need to question the intent of the article. Is China supporting the WEF Great Reset and one world government? No. Does France's Macron promote the one world government? Yes.
Interesting that any two anonymous sources is all that's needed to create a "fact" (so long as it agrees with the narrative)
I think only the high stakes (WWIII) and the backlash (Sleep Joe's denial) forced them to sacrifice a pawn.
Have to admit, I was a bit confused as to who the England team were messaging by doing their BLM pre-match kneeling (yes, it's still going on) and wearing their anti-racist emblems whilst playing against Iran in Qatar
Maybe the rest of the world should display emblems for "Stop Colonialism"
Hilarious !
In China or anywhere else for that matter.
How long?
I'm thinking one lie too much is one lie too many and one lie over the edge will arouse forces, peasant forces undeniable and ready for something better.
Simple really if you give it consideration.
Now, if they want to kill all the peasants just like they killed all the bison on the plains, then they got another thing coming and the peasants will have their day in the sun soon enough.