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People’s Lives: Tragic Deaths in Xi’an

Since December 23, 2021, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province has been locked down for 20 days due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) fierce Internet monitoring and constantly deleting postings that did not follow the party’s main theme, some people in Xi’an still managed to post videos or texts to report on the tragedies due to the authorities’ inhumanity.

A video reported that a woman who was eight-months pregnant went to a hospital in Xi’an, but the hospital refused to treat her since her COVID test result (though negative) expired four hours earlier.

A netizen wrote,“My auntie sat on the chair, using her hands to support her body with great difficulty (as shown in a video).”  “Blood flowed down the chair and her pants and the floor was covered with blood.” She was admitted for hospitalization two hours later. By then, the eight-month-old fetus had died.

Another lady who was six weeks pregnant reported a similar experience on January 5. She saw blood in her discharge and went to the hospital. Several hospitals refused to take her. Her husband called several public hospitals and they all rejected her. He called 120 (China’s emergency phone number which is like 911 in the United States) and received no answer either. She was finally accepted by a hospital six hours later, but it was too late. The hospital aborted the baby due to her heavy bleeding.

In another case, on December 31, 2021, a 39-year-old man suddenly had chest congestion. Since he had not had COVID test within the last 48 hours, 120 (China’s 911) refused to help him. He had no choice but to take the test. Even after he got a negative result, three hospitals still refused to take him. The fourth one took him, but it was too late. He died at the hospital.

Another citizen said that his mother needed to have a hemodialysis treatment three times a week, but people enforcing the lockdown wouldn’t let her go through, despite the fact that she showed her proof. However, if she didn’t take the hemodialysis treatment on time, her life could be in jeopardy. So she had no choice but to climb over the highway to go to the hospital for treatment.

The CCP intensified Internet control. On January 10, the CCP controlled media reported that the Xi’an police had processed 30 fake news cases on the Internet and detained 23 people. The authorities didn’t disclose what information those people posted.

Xi’an people also suffered from a severe lack of food. Many people posted on the Internet that the authorities didn’t deliver food to them after the lockdown. A netizen posted on January 9 that she received only one delivery of vegetables during the 20 days of lockdown, which included 2 potatoes, 2 onions, 1 cabbage, and 2 radishes. She asked, “What are we supposed to eat? Exept for the COVID test, we are not allowed to go out. Should we just die out of hunger at home?”

Her second post said, “Today our door was sealed off (we are not allowed to open it anymore). Last evening, I cooked a quarter pound of steak for my six-year-old son, my 61-year-old mother, and me. I took one bite, mother took two bites, and my son had the rest. I was so heartbroken. Both mother and I cried … In such a prosperous time, it is unbelievable that we can’t buy and eat food due to the pandemic.”

Another netizen posted some pictures, showing that the vegetables that other cities sent to Xi’an were left alone in one spot for four or five days. No authorities came to process them.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Sources:
1. BBC, January 7, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-59906253
2. Epoch Times, January 11, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/1/11/n13497983.htm

Pandemic: COVID Spread to Henan and Zhejiang Province

After Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province was fully locked down on December 23, 2021, COVID-19 kept spreading in China. On January 2, 2022, Yuzhou City, Henan Province, with a population
of 1.1 million, became the second city that was fully locked down.  Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province, locked down certain areas of the city. It also blocked any automobiles
which had license plates for Xi’an, Yuzhou, and two other Henan cities, Luoyang and Xu Chang, both also reported that COVID cases were prevented from entering the city. Ningbo City,
Zhejiang Province also reported COVID cases.
Related postings on Chinascope:

Sources:
1. BBC, January 5, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-59878415
2. National Business Daily, January 4, 2022
https://m.nbd.com.cn/articles/2022-01-04/2072938.html

Pandemic: Xi’an Locked Down

Recently Xi’an City in Shaanxi Province suffered a severe COVID-19 outbreak. On December 28, the authorities reported 175 infection cases in the city, though the actual numbers are unknown as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for hiding COVID information.

As of December 30, the city had been locked down for eight days. The streets are empty and people are not allowed to go out. This is exactly like what had happened in Wuhan in 2020. Many people reported that they are running out of food,  though the government promised there will be ample supplies. In reality, however, they can’t get online to place orders or they have been able to place orders but there have been no deliveries.

People’s Daily reported on December 28, that the authorities sent over 150 military medical staff members to Xi’an and many of them had gone to Wuhan before during its lockdown.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: SET News, December 27, 2021
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/西安封城市民爆要斷糧了-解放軍進駐-024527255.html

Subnational Infiltration: Using Western Countries’ Local Governments to Counter the State’s Policy

The Voice of America (VOA)  published an article that discussed two research reports exploring the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) subnational infiltration of Western countries. According to the reports, in a systematic way, the CCP takes advantage of the pluralistic and decentralized nature of the Western political system to rope in and encourage local governments to confront and dismantle, at the sub-national level, their state’s negative policies toward China. The VOA called it “encircling the cities from rural areas,” a military strategy that the CCP used to win the civil war in China in the late 1940’s.

In the U.S., the CCP’s strategy is to bypass Washington and to target the governors, mayors, and non-governmental organizations directly. The purpose is to foster a positive connection between Beijing and the local officials or organizations.

The two reports refer to the “All Over the Map” strategy. This strategy addresses the Chinese Communist Party’s “subnational Interests in the United States” as reported by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) and the “Big fish in small ponds strategy,” which is China’s subnational diplomacy in Europe” as discussed in an article by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS).

The FDD report states that China has a long history of trying to influence local governments in the United States, including through events and forums that promote U.S.-China relations and friendship cities (or sister cities), Internet forums, governors’ forums, and other examples. Though at the national level, the U.S., holds a critical attitude toward Beijing, the National Governors Association expresses positive descriptions about Beijing.

The MERICS article pointed out that, within the five biggest member countries of the European Union – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland, local governments have established 146 partnerships with the CCP. In many situations, Beijing or its entities can sign investment or cooperation treaties with Europen cities or regions, which usually do not need the central government’s participation.

Source: VOA, December 7, 2021
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-subnational-diplomacy-20211207/6343105.html

Pandemic: COVID Spreads to Xi’an

COVID-19 continued spreading in China. The National Health Commission reported 100 cases on December 22, among which, 71 were local residents and the rest were carried in from overseas. Xi’an city, Shaanxi Province reported 63 cases. The CCP is known for hiding information, so the actual infection count is unknown.

Xi’an city had infection cases for several days. Authorities locked down certain areas and then conducted testing for all residents in Xi’an. They found infection cases outside of the lockdown areas – meaning the virus could still spread. The authorities locked down more areas and started the second round of testing the whole city. The authorities also stopped long-distance buses and forbade taxis and mobile-app taxis from going into high-risk areas or going out of the city.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: Reuters, December 22, 2021
https://www.reuters.com/article/《疫情简讯》中国大陆新增71例本土确诊病例九成仍在西安;西安第二轮核酸筛查发现阳-idCNL4S2T73T

Taiwan: The CCP Interfered with a Taiwan Referendum

On December 18, Taiwan held four referendums. The Kuomintang, the opposition party, proposed all four of them to challenge the current administration’s decision. The voting result, though close between yes and no, rejected all proposals.

The Information Operations Research Group (IORG), a Taipei-based research group focusing on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) information manipulation and influence over Taiwan, found that the CCP conducted a heavy information war on one of the referendum topics: whether to ban imports of pork containing the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine.

Researchers pointed out that the CCP took on the ractopamine pork issue to ruin the Taiwan-U.S. relationship. The Taiwan government approved the pork imports last year, to remove a block for a free trade deal with the U.S. where ractopamine is widely used.

The IORG report found that from April to November this year, there were eight main hot discussions on the referendums and all of them could be traced back to the CCP. Among them, seven were about the ractopamine pork. On April 10, Beijing’s media started spreading a rumor that “the U.S. gets money from Taiwan by selling ractopamine pork and weapons.” In May, when COVID cases increased in Taiwan, the CCP’s media said, “Even after buying the U.S. ractopamine pork and weapons, Taiwan still cannot get COVID vaccine from the U.S.” After the U.S. announced that it would donate 750,000 doses of vaccine to Taiwan, the CCP changed its story line to, “Because Taiwan bought the American ractopamine pork and weapons, it should get the American vaccines.”

Other CCP information manipulation on ractopamine pork included spreading incorrect or fake news without scientific backing. Some examples follow: “Hong Kong detected Taiwan pork with ractopamine severely exceeding the standard.” “Taiwan soldiers ate the American ractopamine pork,” “Over 160 countries banned ractopamine pork,” “Following netizen’s words, China’s media called the ractopamine pork ‘drugs.’”

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: VOA, December 16, 2021
https://www.voachinese.com/a/report-shows-CCP-initiated-pork-discussion-to-stir-up-Taiwan-anti-US-sentiment-20211216/6355619.html

Taiwan: Voice of China Commented on Far Eastern Group’s Statement of “Anti-Taiwan Independence”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fined Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group in the amount of US$5.7 million, blaming it for supporting “Taiwan Independence” activists. On November 29, the Far Eastern Group’s Chairman Xu Xudong yielded to the CCP and published a statement on Taiwan media, expressing an “anti-Taiwan Independence” position and supporting the “One China” principle.

China ‘s Media Group, also known as the Voice of China, published a commentary stating that the Far Eastern Group’s statement was not enough. “Regarding Xu Xudong’s expression, we heard his words, but more importantly, we need to see his actions.”

“If the Taiwan Far Eastern Group wants the sincere recognition of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, it must completely abandon the illusion of being a ‘two-faced person.’ It must stop supporting the ‘Taiwan Independence’ elements, and avoid making itself an accomplice to ‘Taiwan Independence’ again. Only in this way can people believe that Xu Xudong’s statement is really in support of the ‘One China’ principle, rather than a temporary measure to protect his interests in the mainland.”

“Regarding Xu Xudong’s statement, we focus more on the future and want to see their actions. On the one hand, they should really stop political donations to the ‘Taiwan Independence’ elements, to combat the ‘independence’ from the origin. Any ‘two-faced’ behavior cannot escape the sharp eyes of people on both sides of the Strait. On the other hand, they should also exert their influence to promote cross-strait exchanges actively and lead more Taiwanese enterprises operating in the mainland resolutely to oppose the Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ despicable tactics of ‘decoupling’ the two sides…”

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: CCTV, November 30, 2021
https://content-static.cctvnews.cctv.com/snow-book/index.html?item_id=3772629037891974856&t=1638291827318&toc_style_id=feeds_default&share_to=wechat&track_id=da4afb72-df2f-4878-bb35-ba367c27915c

Taiwan: The Netherland, France, and Ireland Supported Taiwan

After China retaliated against Lithuania for opening the Taiwan Representative Office, a de facto embassy in Lithuania, both the Netherlands and France took actions to support Taiwan in boosting its international status.

On November 23, the Dutch House of Representatives passed a motion with an overwhelming vote of 149 to 1, calling on the Dutch government and countries with similar ideas jointly to study the feasibility of supporting Taiwan’s participation in Interpol’s General Assembly.

On November 30, the Dutch House of Representatives passed two motions in support of Taiwan. Both actions happened on the same day. In the first, it was120 votes to 30 to call on the Dutch government not to accept the Chinese Communist Party’s unilateral change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and 117 votes to 33 to urge the European Union to support Lithuania in strengthening its relations with Taiwan.

On November 30, the French National Assembly passed a non-binding cross-party resolution with a vote of 39 to 2, to support France’s continued diplomatic steps to support Taiwan’s participation in the work of international organizations, and in particular of the WHO.

On December 1, The Irish Senate passed without dissent a resolution condemning China for human rights abuses, supporting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, and reaffirmed that reunification between China and Taiwan must not be sought by force. It also called on the Irish government to maintain its strong support for the personal and political liberties of the people of Taiwan, to increase its interaction with the government and people of Taiwan, including through the use of the EU Representative Office in Taiwan.

Sources:
1. Radio France International, November 23, 2021
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/国际/20211123-149票对1票-荷兰众院力挺台湾参与国际刑警组织
2. Epoch Times, December 1, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/1/n13409780.htm
3. Radio France International, November 30, 2021
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/法国/20211130-法国议会决议支持台湾参与重要国际组织
4. Central News Agency, December 2, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202112020018.aspx