The authorities are fighting the virus particularly rigorously on China’s borders. But the humiliation of four people is remarkable even for China – and is criticized by many Chinese.
The four alleged rule breakers were shown to an official (middle back) and a crowd (not in the picture).
In the Chinese city of Jingxi on the border with Vietnam, four people were brought before the public. Photos and videos show the quartet standing in front of a crowd in white full-body protective suits including hoods, shielded by black-clad police officers, some with firearms. The four are held by two people each, also in protective suits. On some of the recordings the quartet holds their arms behind their backs, as if in handcuffs. All four wear large-format pictures around their necks, which are apparently their portraits.
According to Chinese media reports, the Jingxi police and law enforcement agency accused the quartet of smuggling people across the Vietnamese-Chinese border. Doing so would have hampered the prevention and control of the pandemic. The incident happened on Tuesday; thanks to a broad discussion on Chinese social media, he became known nationwide on Wednesday.
Disturbing scenes from Jingxi, Guangxi, where authorities paraded people suspected of smuggling – and thus also of spreading COVID – through town for public shaming & warning https://t.co/jJnskkbeOl pic.twitter.com/APoz3euOtB
– Alice Su (@aliceysu) December 29, 2021
The Jingxi City Government website recently reported the arrest of two suspected people smugglers. One of the two had tested positive for the virus. To prevent the virus from spreading, several schools in the city had to be temporarily closed and almost 50,000 people had to be sent home in precautionary isolation, the website said. All of this has serious implications for society and economic production.
The four people criticized had to wear portrait photos around their necks, which obviously show themselves.
It is unclear whether the infected person arrested was one of those now shown. Such public displays of alleged criminals has actually been banned in China since 2010. It brings back memories of supposedly bygone times, especially the so-called Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong.
Many users criticized the measure on the Twitter-like platform Weibo and elsewhere. Under an article on the Ifeng.com news website For example, the comment that received the most approval was: “We are a constitutional state. It is entirely possible to them [das vorgeführte Quartett] to punish with the law. This kind of parade is a step backwards for a civilized society. ” The party newspaper “Beijing News” commented similarly.
Many other Internet users, however, defended the measure as necessary as part of China’s strict zero-Covid strategy. So did the Jingxi Police and Law enforcement agencies and the local government of the southern Chinese city. The latter wrote about her fight against corona these days on your websitethat they «resolutely guard the southern gate of the motherland».