Chinese authorities arrest another activist for questioning 'zero COVID' policy
May 06, 2022
Beijing [China], May 6 : Chinese authorities recently arrested another activist for speaking out against abuses committed by health and police authorities as the country continues adhering to its "zero-COVID" protocols despite criticism from global health experts.
Ji Xiaolong was arrested at his Yanlord Riverside apartment in Shanghai's Pudong district, forcefully taking him and his wife into custody. According to local media, he was detained for three days and then released after strict and long hours of questioning.
As China continues to face the impact of the resurgence of COVID cases in key cities, the country's top leadership has vowed to "win the war" against infection with its scientific and effective epidemic control policy that will stand the test of time.
This message was conveyed by the top leadership at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee chaired by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
Xinhua news agency reported that China's much-publicized "zero-covid" strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic till recently is falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020.
As the pandemic is still raging across the world and the coronavirus keeps mutating, there is a great deal of uncertainty concerning how the pandemic will develop, according to the meeting, which warned against any slackening in the control efforts.
"Relaxation will undoubtedly lead to massive numbers of infections, critical cases and deaths, seriously impacting economic and social development and people's lives and health," the top leaders said in the meeting.
They stressed the importance of unswervingly adhering to the zero-COVID policy and resolutely fighting any attempts to distort, question or dismiss China's COVID policy.
