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Worried for the “well-being” of American citizens, the United States announced on Tuesday that it had ordered non-essential employees of its consulate to leave Shanghai, against the backdrop of an epidemic outbreak and strict confinement in the Chinese economic capital.

The metropolis is facing its strongest surge of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. To deal with this, the authorities are confining almost all of the 25 million inhabitants to their homes.

But the measure has led to logistical hiccups, with some Shanghainese struggling to get food supplies.

Another controversial measure: people who test positive for the coronavirus, even asymptomatic, are placed in solitary confinement in improvised quarantine centers – with sometimes rudimentary comfort and hygiene.

It is in this context that Washington “ordered” the departure from Shanghai of its non-essential personnel “due to the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic”, an embassy spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. the United States.

The number of people affected by this decision is not known and it was not clear if a departure from Shanghai meant an exit from Chinese territory.

“The United States has no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens abroad, including Mission China personnel and their families,” the statement said.

The embassy said American diplomats informed Chinese authorities “of their concerns for the safety and well-being of American citizens”.

– “Increasing risk” –

The decision whether or not to evacuate part of the American staff from the Shanghai consulate is the sole responsibility of Washington, Beijing said on Tuesday, regretting however the publicity given to this measure.

China is “very dissatisfied and firmly opposes any instrumentalization and politicization” of this evacuation, a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Zhao Lijian, lambasted in front of the press.

Last week, the US Embassy had already “allowed” non-essential consulate employees to leave Shanghai. She judged that American citizens risked being faced with an “arbitrary application” of anti-Covid restrictions.

Staff in protective suits against Covid-19 organize the delivery of food to residents of a confined neighborhood on April 10, 2022 in Shanghai (AFP / Hector RETAMAL)

The Ministry of Health reported more than 23,000 new positive cases in the city on Tuesday. Very high figures for China, one of the last countries in the world to apply a zero Covid strategy.

This consists of several measures: confinement as soon as a few cases appear, separation of people who test positive from the rest of the population, visas issued in dribs and drabs, quarantine on arrival in the territory or even tracing of movements.

Most Shanghai residents were still confined on Tuesday, although residents of some “low-risk” neighborhoods were able to leave their homes, provided no new cases were detected in their area.

Health workers in protective suits against Covid-19 on a street in a confined district of Shanghai, April 8, 2022 (AFP / Hector RETAMAL)

The metropolitan lockdown is disrupting China’s economy and threatening global supply chains.

In a letter sent to the Chinese government and consulted by AFP, the European Union Chamber of Commerce warns that the drastic measures against the virus “are eroding the confidence of foreign investors”.

Analysts at Nomura Bank are also worried about a “growing risk of recession” in China, when more than a quarter of the population is confined to varying degrees, which represents 40% of the country’s GDP. , according to their estimates.

– Exhibition centers –

The epidemic in Shanghai surprised its inhabitants, convinced that no epidemic outbreak of magnitude could arrive in the most developed city in the country.

In order to ensure the isolation of those who tested positive from the rest of the population, authorities have installed tens of thousands of beds in exhibition centers or prefabricated structures.

On the internet, many residents complain of having difficulty getting food delivered, in particular because of a lack of people to deliver the products.

A reception structure for people who tested positive for Covid-19, on April 7, 2022 in Shanghai (AFP / STR)

Unverified videos of dogs beaten to death because suspected of being able to transmit the virus have also caused an outcry on social networks.

After criticism, however, authorities relaxed a controversial policy of separating coronavirus-positive children from parents who tested negative. Children under seven can now be accompanied.

Faced with demand, the main online delivery platforms for meals and fresh products have also declared that they will strengthen their stocks and recruit thousands of additional deliverers.

Joe Biden and Narendra Modi had a “frank” virtual exchange on Monday, but which did not seem to have reconciled positions on the war in Ukraine, a subject that is destabilizing the relationship between India and the United States.

“It is important that all countries, especially those who have influence” on Russian President Vladimir Putin, “urge him to put an end to the war”, declared the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken in front of the press after this summit by videoconference followed by a meeting in Washington with his Indian counterpart and the defense ministers of the two countries.

“And it is also important that democracies (…) speak with one voice to defend the values ​​we share,” he added.

The Biden administration, which has made India a pillar of American alliances in the Asia-Pacific zone against China, has been embarrassed by New Delhi’s positioning since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Narendra Modi’s government has refrained from openly condemning the Russian invasion, and from joining in the votes to that effect at the UN.

During his exchange with Joe Biden, the Indian Prime Minister limited himself to qualifying the situation in Ukraine as “very worrying”, recalling his support for the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations which Washington observes for its part with skepticism.

Pressed with questions about this lack of conviction, the head of Indian diplomacy S. Jaishankar did not hide a hint of annoyance. “Thank you for your advice and suggestions, but I prefer to do it my way,” he told a journalist during his press conference with Antony Blinken.

And while, according to the White House, the American president has warned that it would not be “in India’s interest to accelerate” its imports of Russian energy — which would partly offset the reduction in western purchases — the Indian minister was equally scathing. “Our purchases in a month are probably lower than in Europe in an afternoon,” he replied.

The nearly hour-long conversation between Joe Biden and Narendra Modi was thus “warm” but above all “frank”, according to a senior White House official, who repeatedly used this adjective translating, in diplomatic language, a some tension.

– Partenariat “crucial” –

Failing to win over this key ally to its cause, Washington therefore seems to be multiplying the pledges of friendship to prevent it from gradually slipping into the Russian camp, which is also courting it.

At the start of the virtual meeting, Joe Biden praised the “deep connection” between the two countries and, facing a large screen on which Narendra Modi appeared, expressed his wish to “continue” the “close consultations” on Ukraine.

“This is an important moment in world affairs and I think this partnership is therefore even more crucial and vital”, also insisted Antony Blinken.

The United States, aware of India’s dependence on Russia for military equipment against the backdrop of close ties inherited from the Cold War, knows that it cannot publicly rush it.

Therefore, after asserting at the start of the war that any country must take a clear position, the American government pretends to be understanding in the face of Indian caution – even though it has more clearly raised its voice against China.

“India must make its own decisions in the face of this challenge”, commented Antony Blinken, without criticizing it frontally. On the contrary, he acknowledged that she had “condemned the killing of civilians” in Ukraine while “providing significant humanitarian aid”.

Likewise, he repeatedly pointed out that while Indo-Russian relations were much older than those between Washington and New Delhi, the latter were now developing at high speed.

In disagreement on the war itself, the American and Indian leaders have therefore emphasized their common desire to mitigate its effects on the world economy, and on other common ground, with in particular the signing of a space cooperation agreement.