Beijing looks to be growing increasingly frustrated as the Chinese capital is placed under rigorous security and Covid restrictions in preparation for a historic Communist Party meeting.
Authorities have restricted entry into the city, preventing numerous travelers, returning residents, and goods from entering.
Others were restricted in their movements or quarantined.
It has prompted an online outpouring of fury. Meanwhile, photographs of what appears to be a public protest have spread.
The photographs and video depict two big protest banners unfurled over a bridge in the Haidian neighborhood of Beijing’s northwestern outskirts.
By not being slaves, we can become citizens.
The other urged citizens to “go on strike at school and work and oust dictator and traitor Xi Jinping.”
A man could be heard yelling slogans into a loudhailer on a bridge captured on video from the scene.
Sunday will mark the beginning of the week-long 20th Party Congress, which will bring some 2,300 top officials and party delegates to the city.
It is believed that China’s leader Xi Jinping will be granted a third term, breaking decades of convention and strengthening his already solid hold on power.
Before such events, strong security measures are typically implemented in the capital. With paramilitary police monitoring subway stations and neighborhoods around the Great Hall of the People, where the congress will be held, street-level security has been enhanced.
To restrict access to the internet beyond Communist Party control, authorities are cracking down on the use of virtual private networks to evade China’s firewalls.
To eradicate tiny Covid outbreaks in Beijing as the congress approaches, however, local authorities are enforcing significantly harsher controls than in the majority of China.
Tens of millions of residents are tested every three days, building entrances are screened, and mask-wearing laws are enforced.
Officials have also severely restricted access to the city and discouraged residents from leaving.
During the recent National Day holiday, many individuals who traveled to other cities discovered that their online health codes, which are required for domestic travel, suddenly suggested they were in danger of Covid infection, barring them from boarding trains or aircraft returning to Beijing.
According to online accounts, others who made it back to Beijing had a similar change in their health codes days after their return, requiring them to quarantine at home.
One commenter on Weibo wrote, “I don’t understand why Beijing did this… I can’t go to work. I’m about to lose my job. I’m very frustrated. When will it end?” while another commented, “We suffer all these because someone has to hold a meeting.”
Another said, “Why punish the common people? The authorities have unreasonably implemented their program; their reputation has been destroyed; how could anyone trust them?”
It comes at a time when ordinary Chinese citizens are becoming weary of the “zero Covid” campaign, which has included rigorous lockdowns and quarantine procedures, long after other nations have loosened restrictions.
Recent events, notably a bus accident that killed 27 individuals being brought to quarantine camps, have provoked popular outrage.
State media and institutions are displaying a joyful tone for the 20th Party Congress, which is at odds with the discontent.
Red banners denoting the congress have sprung up throughout the capital, and the display colors of popular mobile apps have been changed to red. A drama reviewing the last decade of Mr. Xi’s administration has begun showing on primetime television, and exhibitions with similar themes are being hosted throughout the country.
State-run media outlets have disseminated articles in support of government measures, such as “zero Covid,” urging the Chinese people to “increase their faith in and patience with the current epidemic prevention and control methods.”
