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China’s ‘Absurd’ Covid Propaganda Stirs Rebellion


“We have won the great battle against Covid!”

“History will remember those who contributed!”

“Let’s put an end to all outbreaks!”

This is one of many battle-style slogans Beijing has rolled out to rally support around. from the top down, uncompromising coronavirus policies.

China is now one of the last places on earth trying to get rid of Covid-19, and the Communist Party relies heavily on propaganda to justify it. the lock is getting longer and longer and requires heavy testing can sometimes lead to three tests a week.

The mass messaging – online and on television, radio and social platforms – has become so authoritarian that some residents say it has drowned out their frustrations, downplaying their reality. country tough coronavirus rules and, sometimes, bordering on the absurd.

Until the 8th of a Citywide lockdown in Shanghai This spring, Jason Xue has no food left in the fridge. However, when he clicks government social media accountshe noticed that a top city official had vowed to “make every effort possible” to address the food shortage.

Mr. Xue said that government support did not appear until four weeks later.

“I am extremely angry, panicking and desperate,” said Mr. Xue, who works for a financial media company. In the end he had to turn to his neighbors for help. “The propaganda is very firm and decisive, but different from the fact that we don’t even know if we can have our next meal.”

Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has made virus control a “top political priority. Thousands of state media and social media accounts echoed Beijing’s “zero Covid” policy and praised the sacrifices of workers trying to control Covid-19.

Propaganda has long been one of the tools favored by the Chinese Communist Party for social control. But in the age of Covid, the government’s use of it has gone too far. According to some estimates, at least 120 vividly relevant propaganda phrases has been created since the beginning of the pandemic.

When certain terms risked offending many, officials simply introduced new ones. For example, authorities have swapped the word “key” with “static management”, “silent” or “work from home” when referring to some Covid protocols.

Xiao Qiang, founder of a California-based website that provides materials on Chinese censorship, said in a phone interview: “Words shouldn’t be used that way. “The government has supplemented the policies with political rhetoric, aimed at minimizing loss.”

Mr. Xiao added that authorities now avoid words like “lock the door” because they want people to continue to follow anti-coronavirus measures without panic or resistance. Officials have made the policy language “ambiguous and awkward,” he said, which has contributed to confusion and frustration.

As people tried to run away from quarantine buildings during an earthquake in Sichuan province this year, epidemic prevention workers were caught on camera. stop they seek security.

Videos of the episode were posted online and were quickly deleted by moderators, who said that people should “at least wear a mask before exiting the buildings“Even if an earthquake is “highly destructive”.

For some, the video is a reminder of how the government has used the pandemic to tighten their grip on their private lives, letting them know when they can leave their apartments, what kind of food. they can buy and the hospitals they can go to.

Kong Lingwanyu, a 22-year-old marketing intern in Shanghai, was annoyed when officials used the phrase “unless necessary” when describing restrictions around things like leaving the house and eating out. evening or gathering with others.

Ms. Kong said a local official responsible for implementing coronavirus policies told her she should not “buy unnecessary food”. She said she asked officials about the standards the government uses to determine what foods are needed.

“Who are you to decide ‘necessity’ for others?” she speaks. “It’s completely absurd and pointless.”

On state television, Beijing’s “9 actions to strengthen the storm” around the pandemic were regularly repeated to keep people in compliance with Covid’s policies. The nine actions are: neighborhood blockade, mass testing, contact tracing, disinfection, quarantine center, health care capacity building, traditional Chinese medicine, area screening neighborhood and prevent local transmission.

Yang Xiao, a 33-year-old cinematographer in Shanghai who was confined to his apartment for two months during his confinement this year, has grown tired of it all.

“With Covid under control, propaganda and state power have expanded and taken over every aspect of our lives,” he said in a phone interview. Day after day, Mr. Yang heard loudspeakers in the neighborhood broadcasting PCR test announcements. He said the notifications disturbed his sleep at night and woke him up at dawn.

“Our lives are ordered and disciplined by propaganda and state power,” he said.

To voice his disappointment, Mr. Yang chose 600 popular Chinese propaganda phrases, such as “core awareness”, “follow the general situation” and “national supremacy”. . He gives each phrase a number and then feeds the numbers into Google’s Random Generator, a program that shuffles data.

He ended with meaningless phrases like “discovering the life and death path of citizens”, “seriously carrying out functions” and “specializing master plans without slacking off.” . He then used a voice program to read the phrases aloud and play the sounds on speakers in his neighborhood.

No one seems to notice five minutes of computer-generated nonsense.

However, when Mr. Yang posted a video of the scene online, it was viewed by more than 1.3 million people. Many praised his use of government language as satire. China’s propaganda is “too absurd to be criticized using logic,” Yang said. “I modeled the speech as a mirror, reflecting its own absurdity.”

His video was taken down by the censors.

Mr. Yang added that he hopes to inspire others to speak out against China’s Covid policies and its use for propaganda during the pandemic. He’s not the only Shanghai resident who rebelled when the city was shut down.

In June, dozens of residents protested against police and Covid control officers, who had installed chain link fences around neighboring apartments. As one protester was shoved into a police car and taken away, one shouted: “Freedom! Equality! Justice! The rule of law!” Those words will be familiar to most Chinese: They are often cited by state media as core socialist values ​​under Mr. Xi.



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