Confinement for an indefinite period, fear of being sent to a camp, ban on grocery shopping, daily screening tests: Quebecers who live in China tell of the psychosis of the state which is trying to have zero cases of COVID- 19 in the country.
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“The community in which we live is totally closed. For 52 days, we have never had a case of COVID. There’s no reason to keep us locked up, but we don’t have the right to be free. […] There is no logic, it’s completely chaotic,” laments Alexandra Ménard, a 25-year-old Quebecer who has lived in Shanghai for three years with her partner, Simon Martin.
Like all residents of the Chinese metropolis, the couple, originally from Granby, in Estrie, has been confined for more than a month. It is that since the start of the pandemic, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, has adopted the “zero COVID” strategy.
As soon as a case appears, it is full containment for an entire community. The positive cases are sent to camps, says Ms. Ménard, who fears above all to be sent there.
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Screening tests are also carried out daily by Chinese doctors and nurses.
In recent weeks, this policy has been imposed on Shanghai, where more than 25 million people live. There, citizens live culturally in communities, that is groups of several apartment buildings surrounded by fences and each having a security service.
Today, no one has the right to leave their community, not even to buy groceries, explains Simon Martin, 27.
rationed
It is therefore mainly the government that sends food rations to citizens, but in a very unequal way, depending on the neighborhood.
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An example of a food ration sent by the Chinese government which contains just a bottle of oil and milk with waffles.
“Some receive it almost every week, even 2-3 times a week, while others only three times in six weeks. People are hungry and tired! says Ms. Ménard.
The products delivered are also very variable, she says. The basket may sometimes only consist of a bottle of oil, waffles and milk. Sometimes they get meat or vegetables.
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Vegetables delivered by the State.
Deliveries
The international primary school where Mr. Martin works as a physical education teacher delivered food to them twice.
“As it was a ‘private’ delivery, security held the food for 12 hours just to isolate it, because [le gouvernement croit encore que] the virus is supposed to live for six hours on a surface, argues the expat. They left my delivery bag with the meat and milk in the sun for at least six hours,” he adds, explaining that he had to fight to get off the ice so as not to lose supplies.
For some time now, they have been able to place large orders with their neighbor from grocery stores, but a minimum of large quantities are required for delivery to be accepted, indicate the two Quebecers.
Again, all products are disinfected one by one to avoid carrying the virus, although several studies show that the risk of catching it via a surface is extremely low.
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Residents of Shanghai were given screening tests to be carried out every two days at home.
horror stories
As no one is allowed to enter or leave the communities, many humanitarian disasters occur.
“A woman in our community called her mother every day to check on her. One day, she had no more news and finally learned that her mother had died after a fall, ”drops Mr. Martin.
Due to the severe confinement, many people do not have access to their medication. Others, who live alone, are left completely on their own, without any support.
“Of course it will leave traces for part of the population,” said Simon Martin.
The latter and his companion had planned to return to Quebec in July. But with the confinement whose lifting date is unknown, the closure of posts and banks, they fear to remain stuck in China.
“Under these conditions, it gives us even more of a desire to return,” he slips.
Measures drive expatriates away
The drastic measures imposed in China and in particular in Shanghai to contain the virus are pushing many expatriates to rethink their future and leave the country.
“It is certain that if the conditions do not improve, I will leave China before the end of my contract in two years. I have already started to reorganize my finances accordingly. What is happening right now makes you think a lot, ”explains Ugo de Montigny, a 42-year-old Quebec teacher who has lived for six years in Kushan, near Shanghai.
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Ugo de Montigny, expat in China
According to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, nearly 80% of companies surveyed say that health policy prevents them from attracting or retaining their foreign employees.
leave quickly
China has implemented a “zero COVID” approach in the country to try to stem the spread of the virus by confining an entire part of the population as soon as cases appear.
For more than 50 days, in Shanghai, nearly 25 million inhabitants have been forced to stay locked up at home, without the possibility of leaving. On Thursday, the City recorded about 4,500 cases. There would have been more than 27,000 by mid-April.
For Mr. de Montigny, some expatriates are waiting for a relaxation of the measures to be able to leave.
“I have friends who want to fly as soon as they can to leave [le pays] because it becomes too difficult and nothing can be done,” he says.
Difficult for China
From an economic point of view, China risks paying a very high price for its draconian measures, estimates the researcher on Asia at the Center for International Studies and Research at the University of Montreal Adrien Savolle.
“China needs foreigners, it could be a disaster for the standard of living of the Chinese. Before confinement, many expatriates were thinking about leaving, but there, it will be even more accentuated, ”he says.
No question of backtracking to manage the crisis
By touting its “zero COVID” policy, the Chinese Communist Party can no longer backtrack and end its ineffective intense lockdowns months before the election, experts believe.
“The Chinese government says its model [de gestion de la crise] is higher than that of Westerners, so to admit that we have to change would be an admission of weakness,” maintains the former Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques.
Since the beginning of the health crisis, President Xi Jinping has carried out the policy of zero cases of COVID. This imposes very strict confinements with the closure of all businesses, as well as massive screening of the population as soon as a positive case appears. If it may have been effective at the start of the pandemic with the much more contagious Omicron variant, it is no longer so.
As a result, millions of Chinese have been confined for almost two months.
In China, the pandemic is intertwined with elections. In October, the Chinese head of state hopes to be re-elected in order to take the reins of the country for a third term. So, to concede today that this management is not the right one would make him fear a defeat, thinks Mr. Saint-Jacques.
Not about to change
The researcher on Asia at the Center for International Studies and Research at the University of Montreal Adrien Savolle believes that we will have to wait until the end of the election to see changes in the management of the crisis.
“Soon, we will really have to watch Beijing, which seems to be the next to be confined. With not even 50 cases, they closed nearly 14 metro stations, so things are starting to heat up, ”warns Mr. Savolle.
For Ugo de Montigny, a Quebecer who has lived in Kunshan for six years, the state clearly has no intention of changing.
“In fact, he continues to apply a 2020 policy, which no longer makes sense in 2022 since we learned of the virus”, supports the 42-year-old teacher.
Protestations
All over the world, but also in the country, images of protests are making the rounds on social networks.
“It’s starting to get popular reactions, because these are really tough approaches. […] The Chinese censors, even if they are very effective, have difficulty in containing this wave of anger”, affirms Guy Saint-Jacques.