{"id":932,"date":"2021-11-05T17:33:07","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T14:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/?p=932"},"modified":"2021-11-05T17:33:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T14:33:09","slug":"widening-china-covid-lockdowns-hit-uyghurs-and-tibetans-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/widening-china-covid-lockdowns-hit-uyghurs-and-tibetans-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"WIDENING CHINA COVID LOCKDOWNS HIT UYGHURS AND TIBETANS HARD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RFA.<\/a> 3 November 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Below is an article published by RFA<\/a>. Photo:AFP.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockdowns are spreading in China amid a surge in coronavirus infections that have seen around 500 people diagnosed in at least 17 provinces, with authorities restricting travel and warning people to stockpile food and other supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A lockdown in one city in northwestern China\u2019s Xinjiang region has lasted more than a month, leaving desperate residents short of food and forced to complain to authorities in spite of official warnings to keep quiet, sources say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is impossible to continue like this,\u201d one Uyghur resident of Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) said, writing on his social media account.  \u201cWhen will the roads and our doors be opened again for sure?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey said this would happen on Oct. 18, but the 18th<\/sup> then passed. Then we were happy when we heard things would open on Oct. 28, but the 28th<\/sup> has now also passed, and no one is saying anything more,\u201d the man wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCold weather is coming, and normally we would be able to go out to buy coal and other things we need,\u201d he said, adding a plea to Chinese authorities to carefully consider their situation. \u201cWe must be allowed to go out as soon as possible. If things continue like this, we will probably die from hunger rather than the virus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many residents of Ghulja, which lies near China\u2019s border with Kazakhstan, are no longer able to buy food or fuel, other Uyghurs said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have run out of all the money that I\u2019d saved,\u201d another resident wrote. \u201cWe\u2019ve also run out of vegetables, and I can\u2019t send any money to my child, who is studying in another city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No sign of end<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials called by RFA declined to comment on the situation in Ghulja, but an employee working in what she called a vocational training school said the city\u2019s lockdown was still in force, adding that she was now cut off from contact with her husband, who worked in another town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She couldn\u2019t say when the city\u2019s quarantine might end, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re staying in our house because the of the government\u2019s order, so we can\u2019t say anything for sure. My husband works in another town out in the countryside, and it has been almost a month since he\u2019s been home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City residents preparing for colder weather have now also been forced to buy coal in bags instead of by the cart, leaving them vulnerable to extortion and fraud, some residents said on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoal bought by the bag doesn\u2019t last long,\u201d one writer said, adding that the coal they buy is often mixed with stones, which they have to pick out of their stoves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have nothing to eat and nothing to burn, and we are getting really desperate,\u201d she said. \u201cWe pass our days in the false hope that we can come out tomorrow or maybe in the afternoon. We can\u2019t go anywhere and remain locked up at home by the command of the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families whose fathers and other male breadwinners have been taken by authorities to Xinjiang\u2019s vast network of internment camps have been especially hard hit, sources said on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have not died yet from hunger, but we\u2019re suffering a lot,\u201d one woman wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are some families who have no male figure in the house, but we women are getting by on our strength. The authorities should take these things into account,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Movements restricted<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tibetans living in Xining, capital of northwestern China\u2019s Qinghai province, part of Tibet\u2019s historical region of Amdo, have also been restricted to their homes and may not move freely in the town, Tibetan sources say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTibetans have been barred from visiting each other\u2019s homes, even if they live in the same area,\u201d one local resident told RFA\u2019s Tibetan Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unclear if these restrictions are really due to the COVID spike or if they\u2019re only meant to further control Tibetans living in Tibet, as the Chinese government is under great pressure and scrutiny these days as the host of the coming Winter Olympics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese authorities have already arrested 14 people for spreading what they called \u201cfalse information\u201d about COVID-19 in Xining, RFA\u2019s source said, citing reports in state media. \u201cPublic transportation has also been curtailed and tourism halted in the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though many Chinese cities have now seen spikes in COVID cases, tourists still go in large numbers to Tibet\u2019s regional capital Lhasa, staying in guesthouses and visiting shops without restrictions, said another source living in Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see no sign of serious attempts to curb the spread of the virus in Lhasa,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food prices climb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Health Commission of China announced that as of Tuesday, there were 109 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, including 35 in Heilongjiang, 14 in Hebei, 14 in Gansu, and nine in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In China\u2019s eastern provinces, authorities are now urging families to store food and other necessities in case of emergency, as food prices continue to climb amid shortages and recent flooding due to heavy rains, media sources say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Jiangsu, where the epidemic had not occurred recently, people in many places are facing quarantine after an outbreak, so they have begun to rush to buy daily necessities. Several videos provided by netizens showed panic buying that had left shelves empty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople in several cities around us are rushing to buy thing,\u201d said Zhang Jianping, a resident of the city of Yixing in Jiangsu. \u201cThe Ministry of Commerce reminds everyone to store daily necessities, especially food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to RFA, a resident of Wuhan city surnamed Zhang said that authorities may have two \u201cemergencies\u201d in mind\u2014one the present shortage of essentials caused by the pandemic, and the other any future conflict between China and the United States that could affect normal functions of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, is anything going to happen in the South China Sea or the East China Sea?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrices have climbed drastically, including the prices of meat and eggs, and the price of green vegetables has risen very high. Even radishes are being sold at three to four yuan per catty in weight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though over 70 percent of China\u2019s population of 1.4 billion people has been fully vaccinated, the country still struggles to contain sporadic outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RFA. 3 November 2021 Below is an article published by RFA. Photo:AFP. Lockdowns are spreading in China amid a surge in coronavirus infections that have seen around 500 people diagnosed in at least 17 provinces, with authorities restricting travel and warning people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":933,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions\/933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}