‘Stop asking why’: Shanghai intensifies Covid lockdown despite falling cases
By Nectar Gan
May 9th, 2022
Shanghai is further tightening its stringent lockdown measures after China’s top leader Xi Jinping pledged to “unswervingly” double down on the country’s controversial zero-Covid policy, leaving millions confined to their homes with no end in sight.
Over the weekend, videos showing Shanghai residents arguing or scuffling with hazmat suit-clad workers and police officers while being forcefully taken away for government quarantine circulated widely on Chinese social media. Many have since been removed by censors after sparking public anger.
“From now on, people who live on the same floor (as Covid cases) must be transported (into quarantine),” a police officer says in the video.
“It’s not that you can do whatever you want – unless you’re in America. This is China,” another police officer says sternly, waving a bottle of disinfectant in his hand. “Stop asking me why. There is no why. We have to obey our country’s regulations and epidemic control policies.”
