A large-scale protest erupted in Shenzhen early this week after the tech hub locked down three districts due to 10 new COVID-19 cases.
The Shenzhen Health Commission announced seven symptomatic and three asymptomatic cases on Sept. 26, with four cases found in Luohu District, four cases in Futian District, and two cases in Longgang District, according to Chinese state media. Futian is the seat of the Shenzhen municipal government.
Residents of Shawei village in Futian District took to the streets to protest against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “zero-COVID” policy. The draconian measures and ongoing lockdowns have significantly impacted the residents’ livelihood. The village reported one positive COVID case.
According to the official announcement, the village was declared a high-risk area and was locked down on Monday; restrictions would be lifted after seven days, state-run Shenzhen Daily reported on Sept. 27.
Residents have been strictly confined to their homes since Monday. The village would be downgraded to medium risk if no new cases are reported within the seven-day lockdown period, and all residents test negative for COVID on the seventh day, according to the authorities.
Shawei has become an urban neighborhood in Shenzhen, with a small number of residents being natives of the former fishing village. Most of the residents are migrant workers from other places seeking better opportunities in the once vibrant tech hub and commercial megacity.
Protest and Confrontation With Police
A video clip obtained by the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times shows a large group of residents protesting outside a mall in Shawei on Monday night.At the beginning of the video, the protesters chant, “Lift the lockdown!” Police show up at the scene to quell the protest. Then violence breaks out between the protesters and the police. A man is heard shouting, “Fight! [We’re] not afraid of you!”
“There were over 1,000 people and several hundred police at the protest site,” Shawei resident Xiaoqiang (pseudonym) told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on the night of the protest.
“There was a physical confrontation. Some people threw plastic water bottles at the police, others were pushing and shoving.”
Xiaoqiang added that the police had dispersed the protesters by the time of the interview.
“I am not sure if anyone has been arrested,” Xiaoqiang said. “But the lockdown hasn’t been lifted.”
“The police got reinforcements and lined up together to form barricades. Protesters have been dispersed already.”
Ongoing Lockdowns ‘Triggered the Protest’
Xiaoqiang said the people couldn’t make ends meet during the lockdowns in Shenzhen, as most of the village residents are migrants who work in factories or as delivery men. The Chinese regime refers to farmers working in cities as “migrant workers.”“Since March, Shenzhen has been locked down multiple times,” Xiaoqiang told the publication. “People need to make a living, but the government hasn’t given us a break from the ongoing lockdowns.”
“This time [the authorities] casually ordered a seven-day lockdown again, which triggered the protest. So the people shouted, ‘Lift the lockdown!’” Xiaoqiang said.
He complained that the authorities casually isolated all the close contacts of infected people in central isolation facilities and mandated PCR tests regularly.
“If you don’t have a 24-hour [negative] PCR test report, you can’t go anywhere,” Xiaoqiang said.
“If you accidentally come in direct contact with an infected person, your health code will be turned yellow, which means you cannot go back to work, and your residence or workplace will be sealed.”
Xiaoqiang questioned authorities’ handling of the pandemic and if they realized that people couldn’t earn an income if they were isolated at home.
“How can people make a living under such a circumstance? There is no reduction in rent, either. There are suicides every day, but the media don’t report on this. I can’t talk much about this with you on the phone,” Xiaoqiang said, fearing retaliation from authorities.
“What else have we protested for?”
The Epoch Times came across one Chinese social media post that claims a woman from Shantou living in Futian committed suicide by jumping off a high-rise building on Sept. 26. Shantou is an eastern coastal city of Guangdong Province, which is about 200 miles east of Shenzhen.
Censorship
Immediately after the interview with Xiaoqiang, The Epoch Times searched for online posts on the protest in Shawei village but found that most of them were already removed by the authorities. The publication took a screenshot of one post, which got 1,611 likes, before it was deleted.
The post reads: “#Shenzhen pandemic# Let the state government have a look. In Shenzhen, a first-tier city, nucleic [testing] has been mandated on a 24-hour basis since the beginning of the year. But what did we get in exchange for this? Lockdowns on top of lockdowns. We, the commoners, need to make a living. Rents, mortgages, food, drinks, daily necessities … everything needs money. [We] have reached our limit and are stressed out. Otherwise, who would want to do this [protest]?”
