China: a harsh repression is being prepared against the protests for the Covid -Zero
The Chinese government's policy towards the protests against the lockdowns and the zero Covid policy will be made up of a lot of carrots and a lot of sticks . The Chinese Communist Party's security chief has vowed to crack down on "hostile forces" after people took to the streets in several cities and university campuses over the weekend to protest against the strict restrictions imposed by the Covid-19.
The remarks were made on Monday during a meeting chaired by Chen Wenqing, head of the Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs, the party's top security organ, state media Xinhua reported. Chen is a member of the 24-member Politburo, which was formed recently in October.
According to the statement, the meeting was convened to "study the recent decisions and interventions of the party leadership". He did not elaborate on the content of those decisions.
The meeting called on law enforcement agencies across the country to take strong measures to safeguard national security and social stability, implement Xi Jinping Thought on the rule of law and national security, and strengthen the "fighting spirit".
The security forces were urged to improve their political judgment and timely resolve the real disputes and difficulties of the people. Furthermore, the meeting called for firmly cracking down on "infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces, illegal activities that disturb social order according to the law ," to maintain stability.
He also called for the elimination of risks in industrial production and for " determined prevention and control of serious accidents " to protect people's life and property.
Chen's body oversees all of China's police officers, prosecutors, courts, prisons, and spy agencies. The country's chief of police, chief prosecutor and chief judge also attended Monday's meeting. So we can say that it was the summit preparing the management of public order in China.
The meeting was called a day after protests erupted in some Chinese cities, including the capital Beijing, where people gathered to mourn the victims of a fire in Urumqi, the capital of western Xinjiang region, last week and to vent anger over the zero Covid strategy imposed by Beijing for three years.
The reading made no mention of the protests, which have barely been acknowledged by Chinese authorities.
Asked about public sentiment against the current measures during a press conference on Tuesday, a National Health Commission spokesman said Beijing was "constantly studying and adjusting" its Covid-19 restrictions.
During the weekend demonstrations, people brought pieces of white paper with them and chanted slogans calling for an easing of the restrictive measures. At Tsinghua University, President Xi Jinping's alma mater, students demanded "rule of law and freedom of expression."
The authorities have reacted quickly to the unrest and have increased the police presence on the streets in recent days. According to media reports, people were arrested both during the protests and afterward.
In the immediate aftermath of the protests, allegations circulated on social media that the participants were organized and incited by “ foreign forces ”. Numerous people were arrested, many more cautioned and many had their covid access permit turned “Orange”, which prevented them from even entering their own homes.
So we will soon see a brutal crackdown, barely offset by some tenuous concessions.
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The article China: a harsh repression is being prepared against the protests for Covid-Zero comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/cina-si-prepara-una-dura-repressione-contro-le-proteste-per-il-covid-zero/ on Wed, 30 Nov 2022 10:30:52 +0000.