Beijing spends more on restricting movement of its citizens than on defence
Aug 31, 2022
Beijing [China], August 31 : As Xi Jinping's authoritarian regime in China continues to restrict the movement of hundreds of thousands of citizens under the banner of the Zero Covid Policy, local governments across the country are going too far in tightening their stranglehold on ordinary people, thus putting the safety of Chinese citizens at bay as country's public safety spending, which is used to maintain public order and control speech at home, reached USD 210 billion in 2020.
China's zero-covid policy of containing the virus through strict social controls has sent shock waves around the world. Several videos have been doing the rounds on the internet of citizens suffering from food shortages and being mistreated by local authorities, as per Nikkei Asia.
In China, authorities track citizens' location, and if anyone comes into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, their health code apps turn red and they face strict restrictions on their movements.
In a recent incident, a Chinese resident, Yang encountered a similar situation when he arrived on a night train at his destination, Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan. As the train approached the station, he could not believe his eyes as his "health code" smartphone app turned red and the local authorities reached the station right after, Nikkei Asia reported.
China's zero-COVID policy of containing the virus through strict social controls has sent shock waves around the world. Several videos have been doing the rounds on the internet of citizens suffering from food shortages and being mistreated by local authorities.
According to a US-China joint study published in the journal Nature Medicine, if China eases its zero-COVID policy, it will suffer a devastating blow because the effectiveness of the widely used Chinese-made vaccines is low.
Notably, China's "public safety" spending, which is used to maintain public order and control speech at home, reached USD 210 billion in 2020. The amount more than doubled in 10 years and frustration among the public is growing further as the crackdown becomes severe.
China's GDP has taken a hit due to Xi's Zero-Covid policy. Now policy expansion to new areas can hurt the Chinese economy more as well as cause a huge negative impact on people's livelihoods and mental health.
