BEIJING: eminent Chinese commentator Hu Xijin said on Sunday that as China considers its policy on Covid-19, epidemic experts must speak out and China must conduct thorough research and make all studies transparent to the public.
Hu’s unusual call on Chinese social media for candor and transparency has earned him 34,000 likes on popular Twitter-like microblog Weibo, as well as candid responses from netizens in a normally tightly guarded internet that rapidly censors voices considered a risk to social stability.
China’s top leaders warned in May, amid Shanghai’s Covid lockdown and widespread restrictions in the Chinese capital Beijing, that they would fight any comments or actions that misrepresented, doubted or repudiated the country’s Covid policies.
“When it comes to the future, China needs very rational research and calculations,” said Hu, a former editor of the nationalist state tabloid Global Times.
“Experts need to speak out, and the country needs to organize in-depth studies and make them transparent to the public: what are the pros and cons for our people, and what are the overall pros and cons for the country?”
China has dramatically tightened its Covid-19 policies this year to contain the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron even as its death toll since the start of the pandemic remains low – around 5,226 on Saturday – and many other countries drop out. strict restrictions and learn to live with the coronavirus.
“Oppose excessive epidemic prevention,” one Weibo user wrote in response to Hu’s post.
In the name of prioritizing people’s lives, entire cities have been subjected to varying degrees of lockdown, while infected or suspected cases are confined to institutions or homes, and local people are required to pass a PCR test every two to three days or be barred from public facilities and spaces.
“I don’t mind being infected, but I’m afraid you can’t stop me from moving freely,” said another Weibo user.
Even Chinese-ruled Hong Kong is set to scrap its controversial Covid-19 hotel quarantine policy for all arrivals, more than two and a half years after it was first implemented, and just weeks before a major Communist Party congress. in Beijing next month, when President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term as leader of China.
“The people should trust the state, but the state should also trust the understanding of the people,” Hu said.
Hu’s unusual call on Chinese social media for candor and transparency has earned him 34,000 likes on popular Twitter-like microblog Weibo, as well as candid responses from netizens in a normally tightly guarded internet that rapidly censors voices considered a risk to social stability.
China’s top leaders warned in May, amid Shanghai’s Covid lockdown and widespread restrictions in the Chinese capital Beijing, that they would fight any comments or actions that misrepresented, doubted or repudiated the country’s Covid policies.
“When it comes to the future, China needs very rational research and calculations,” said Hu, a former editor of the nationalist state tabloid Global Times.
“Experts need to speak out, and the country needs to organize in-depth studies and make them transparent to the public: what are the pros and cons for our people, and what are the overall pros and cons for the country?”
China has dramatically tightened its Covid-19 policies this year to contain the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron even as its death toll since the start of the pandemic remains low – around 5,226 on Saturday – and many other countries drop out. strict restrictions and learn to live with the coronavirus.
“Oppose excessive epidemic prevention,” one Weibo user wrote in response to Hu’s post.
In the name of prioritizing people’s lives, entire cities have been subjected to varying degrees of lockdown, while infected or suspected cases are confined to institutions or homes, and local people are required to pass a PCR test every two to three days or be barred from public facilities and spaces.
“I don’t mind being infected, but I’m afraid you can’t stop me from moving freely,” said another Weibo user.
Even Chinese-ruled Hong Kong is set to scrap its controversial Covid-19 hotel quarantine policy for all arrivals, more than two and a half years after it was first implemented, and just weeks before a major Communist Party congress. in Beijing next month, when President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term as leader of China.
“The people should trust the state, but the state should also trust the understanding of the people,” Hu said.
