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Lhasa, Tibet Suffered a Severe COVID Outbreak

Recently, Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, suffered a severe COVID outbreak. The Epoch Times interviewed residents there. One interviewee said that people were telling each other that a quarter of the total 800,000 residents have already been infected. When a city reported COVID cases, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a strict “Zero-COVID” policy and took drastic measures to quarantine people including even many who were not infected. On the other hand, the authorities reported low infection counts to make things look good and to hide the real situation.

The numbers released by the authorities are at a low one hundred or even lower. There were 86 cases on September 14, 95 cases on September 13, 137 cases on September 12, and 122 cases on September 11.

The interviewee said that authorities conducted PCR tests every three or four days and each time an additional person in the community would be reported as positive. Then the authorities sent loads of buses at night to take all the people in the same building to quarantine them in a centralized location.

Another interviewee mentioned that Lhasa has three big modular hospitals, each of which can hold 10,000 people and a dozen smaller ones, each with a capacity of one or two thousand. All of them have been filled. The authorities are building new modular centers in suburban areas, but that’s not fast enough. So they started to take buildings from schools and construction sites, most of which were not completely finished yet, as quarantine sites.

Source: Epoch Times, September 18, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/9/18/n13827559.htm

 

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China Continues Lockdown and COVID Control against Its Citizens Even During and After Earthquake

On September 5, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan Province in southwestern China. Nevertheless, and despite the imminent danger, local officials continued the strict COVID control measures and locked residents inside their apartment buildings.

The quake took place in Luding County and caused landslides involving both rocks and boulders. According to state media reports on September 8, the death toll so far has risen to 86.

China’s state media reported several aftershocks in nearby areas. The US Geological Survey also detected a smaller magnitude 4.6 tremor which hit eastern Tibet less than an hour after the initial quake.

Online videos showed that, despite the quake, local authorities stayed firm on the Communist Party’s COVID control measures.

One video showed that residents rushed downstairs in their apartment buildings, but only found the gate was locked and they could not get it to open.

Another one showed that a staff member guarding the gate argued with the people who wanted to get out, “Let me ask you, did the building collapse?” (meaning: if the building did not collapse, residents should just stay in it.)

A picture showed a notice posted for the residents: “Hello Everyone! An earthquake just took place. Please do not be panic. Please wear your mask and go upstairs back to your home. During the COVID control period, (you) should not go downstairs, take a walk, or gather into groups. Outdoor activities are prohibited. Thank you!”

When volunteers arrived on site to help with rescues, the first thing authorities did was to give them a COVID test.

Source: Epoch Times, September 5, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/9/5/n13817657.htm

 

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics Social Stability

UDN: Police Took a Young Woman Away for Taking Pictures in a Kimono on the Street in Suzhou

The police scolded a young woman while she was taking a photo in a kimono on Huaihai Street in Suzhou. She was not allowed to take a photo in a kimono. She could only wear Hanfu (the traditional style of clothing worn by the Han Chinese). The woman asked if there is any regulation on this issue. The police forcibly took her away on the grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” ”She was taken to the police station and questioned for five hours and her phone was searched. “

According to Phoenix.com, in the video, a woman’s weak voice talks to the angry police. She asked, “Can you yell at me like this?” “Yes,” “What’s the reason for (taking me)?” “You are suspected of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

It can be seen from the photo that the date of the photo was August 10, which is not sensitive. It was not near the relevant museum or memorial. It was just a general kimono and there was no sign such as the Japanese military flag. The girl posted her story on the internet.

Source: UDN, August 15, 2022
https://udn.com/news/story/7335/6538918

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Proof of Grandparent’s Vaccination Required for Students’ Admission

Due to the low vaccination rates among the elderly population, there have been reports in China that the country sometimes uses unconventional means to add incentives for the senior population to be vaccinated.

The Chinese cybersphere recently circulated the story that a middle school in Jiangsu Province requires newly admitted students to provide proof that their grandparents have had the COVID-19 vaccination. Those who fail to submit the proof will not be eligible to register for the new semester.

The story sparked widespread discussions. According to officials from Xuelang Middle School in the city of Wuxi, the school at the center of the controversy, the purpose of the requirement was for “the students to have a safe environment.” After the exposure of the story, the school has dropped the requirement that grandparents must offer proof of vaccination. However, it is still required that negative PCR test results are provided for family members living with the student.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), July 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202207260226.aspx

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China: Discrimination against Job Seekers Previously Infected with Covid-19

In Shanghai, China, people who recovered from Covid-19 have hit walls in their job hunting. Some job openings openly state, “Those who were admitted to Covid mobile hospitals are not wanted. Those who previously tested ‘positive’ are not wanted.”

The Shanghai municipal government said to all government branches and all units in Shanghai that all those who have previously tested positive and have recovered should be treated equally and without discrimination.

However, according to the Chinese media Caixin, a number of business owners said that if an employee who already recovered from Covid unfortunately got infected with Covid again, everyone in the company would have to be quarantined for two days and the office spaces would have to be sealed off. This would have a great impact on the normal production and operations. According to Shanghai municipal government’s policy, the company is responsible for preventing the spread of the disease. Once there is an infection, the person in charge of the company has to take the responsibility.

Under China’s “Dynamic zero Covid” policy, even a single case of infection is treated as a total disaster. Even if government officials ask that there be no discrimination, it is still impossible to prevent discrimination against those who have recovered from the disease.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), July 12, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202207120282.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Global Millionaire Migration Report Released

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that the newly released Henley & Partners report revealed the 2022 global high-income population inflow and outflow data forecasts. The research looked at people with wealth of US$1 million or more, and is about true migration, that is, those who spend more than half of their time in a new country for the year. Data shows that with the advent of the post-epidemic era, more and more high-income families have begun to choose investment immigration. Around 88,000 millionaires are expected to emigrate by the end of 2022, and this number will continue to rise, with 2023 expected to be the largest year of millionaire immigration to date, a whopping 125,000. Forecast data in the report shows that the top ten countries with net inflows of HNWIs (high net-worth individuals) in 2022 will be the UAE, Australia, Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, the U.S., Portugal, Greece, Canada and New Zealand. Plenty of millionaires also expected to turn to Malta, Mauritius and Monaco. On the other hand, the top 10 countries and territories with the largest net outflows of HNWIs are expected to be Russia, China, India, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Brazil, UK, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Source: NetEase, June 29, 2022
https://www.163.com/dy/article/HB1919520552RBV8.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Social Stability

Xi Jinping Praises ‘One Country, Two Systems’ while Hong Kong People Flee Faster

On June 30, Xi Jinping, general secretary of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arrived in Hong Kong to attend a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of its return to China and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong. Xi highly praised “one country, two systems” as a good system. However, Hong Kong people refute that Hong Kong no longer has two systems and do not trust CCP. Hong Kong’s economic outlook has become bleak, and a new wave of emigration has begun.

“One country, two systems” means that Hong Kong and mainland China have two different systems. In the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984, it is stated that after Hong Kong’s handover in 1997, China shall, under the principle of “one country, two systems”, ensure that Hong Kong’s own capitalist system and way of life shall remain “unchanged for 50 years”, and will protect Hong Kong people’s rights and freedoms of person, speech, publication, assembly, association and religious belief.

But today, 25 years later, former Hong Kong legislator Raymond Hui told Free Asia that the freedoms that Hong Kong people used to enjoy have been completely taken away under high-handed governance, and that “one country, two systems” has disappeared.

A poll conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong last year showed that nearly 60 percent of the 800 respondents aged 15 to 30 want to leave Hong Kong once they have chances.

Hong Kong’s economic outlook has become bleak over the past 25 years since the handover, the Wall Street Journal reported on the 30th, especially for the younger generation, their life has become much more difficult.

Since 1997, Hong Kong’s real estate prices have risen sharply. Many people cannot afford to buy a house. Young people’s monthly salary is also much less than that in the past. According to official data, the average monthly salary of Hong Kong people aged 20 to 24 in 2019 (the most recent year for which annual data are available) is 25 percent less than that of the same age group in 1994 after adjusting for inflation.

In 2021, the latest year for which full-year data are available, the unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 29 in Hong Kong is 8.1 percent, compared with 5.2 percent for the total population; In 1997, the difference between the two was only 0.6 percentage points.

Some young people in Hong Kong also believe that jobs are being taken away by mainlanders. In 2020, according to recruiting firm Robert Walters Group, about 30 percent of investment banking jobs in Hong Kong were filled by local staff, that was down from 40 percent of two years ago. While 60 percent of the jobs were filled by mainland staff and 10 percent by overseas staff.

Hong Kong resident immigration figures show a net outflow of over 140,000 Hong Kong people in the first three months of this year. And a cumulative net departure of 329,808 people as of April 3 this year, calculated from July 1, 2020 (20 months). In 2022, in February and March alone, the net outflow has reached 99,018 people, in contrast to 11,829 people in the same period last year.

One of the immigration hot spots for Hong Kong people is the United Kingdom, where authorities opened British National Overseas (BNO) visa applications at the end of January last year, allowing BNO passport holders and their families to apply for visas to work, study and live in UK. The British Home Office announced last month the latest data, 2021, a total of 103,900 people applied for BNO visas, of which more than 93% have been approved.

Sources:

1. Epoch Times, June 30, 2022.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/22/6/30/n13770900.htm

2. Capitalwatch, April 6, 2022.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      https://www.163.com/dy/article/H49579MR0519ANON.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Pandemic: Chinese Doctors Found Zero Severe Illness Cases for Young People Catching Omicron

On June 18, China CDC Weekly published a research paper by Zhang Wenhong, the leading medical expert from the Shanghai COVID control and prevention group. This research looked at 33,816 omicron infected patients who, between March 22 and May 3, started with light COVID symptoms. A total of 22 patients, all in the high-risk group, had developed a serious illness. That represents 0.065 percent of the total population, or 0.238 percent of the high-risk population. No person, or zero percent, in the low-risk group had a serious illness. The high-risk group is defined as people who were over 60 or had underlying diseases such as a cardiovascular disease (including hypertension), chronic lung disease, diabetes, chronic liver disease, kidney disease, a tumor, or immune deficiency.

With the data showing a low health impact from the Omicron virus, people might question the validity of the governments’ “Zero-COVID” and lockdown policy.

Source: Sina, June 19, 2022
https://finance.sina.com.cn/wm/2022-06-19/doc-imizirau9431070.shtml

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