BEIJING (AP) — Police in northeast China say seven more people have been arrested after a standoff between citizens and the government to enforce COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.
The violence comes as China reports new news across the country, with 2,230 reported Tuesday at the southern Guangzhou production and generation hub.
While the numbers remain low, China has relentlessly pursued its strict “zero COVID” policy of mandatory daily or near-daily quarantines, lockdowns and testing.
A press release from the police branch in Shandong’s Linyi city said public security would crack down on those who “illegally violate citizens’ legal rights of non-public protection. “
Anti-pandemic measures have provoked a backlash across the country, forming a rarely noticed challenge to the authority of the Communist Party. It was not without delay that it became transparent who had been arrested after the confrontation. erased by the country’s censors before noon.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made “zero COVID” a feature of his administration, which gained momentum last month after securing a third five-year term and selling loyalists to high-level posts.
These come with the former party leader in Shanghai, where a draconian blockade over the summer led to food shortages, clashes with authorities and severe disruptions to global supply chains that rely on Chinese production and shipping.
While the rest of the world has opened up more commonly, China has taken only minor and very cautious measures, with its borders still largely closed and the government under great pressure to enforce restrictions.
China reported that its industry fell in October as global demand for antivirus controls weakened and weighed on domestic customer spending. %, with the expansion of 0. 3% in the last month.
Speculation about an imaginable decline in “COVID-zero” has rattled markets, but the government has stuck to its plans, adding the option to load foreign vaccines, a closely guarded secret.
Last week, access to the shopping area where an Apple iPhone factory is located was suspended for a week following a surge in infections in Zhengzhou and factory staff. The criteria of suitability and privacy have been heavily criticized.
Apple announced Sunday that consumers will have to wait longer to get its newest iPhone models, saying Foxconn’s factory in the central city of Zhengzhou “is operating at a particularly reduced capacity. “