Xinjiang authorities apologise for food, medical shortages amid Covid-19 lockdown

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The authorities in China’s Xinjiang region have apologized for shortages of food and medicine in areas that have been locked down for a month to contain a Covid-19 outbreak.

Reports of shortages and tough conditions in Yili, a part of northern Xinjiang bordering Kazakhstan, have been swirling on Chinese social media for days, with some claiming that posts on the situation were being censored.

Officials admitted on Friday that there had been issues, with Liu Qinghua, deputy governor of the affected area, saying the lockdown had prevented some from accessing hospital treatment, and that there had been problems distributing food.

Liu said the local government apologized “deeply for the impact and inconvenience brought by Covid control measures to people’s lives” and vowed to rectify the situation, according to a video recording of the briefing.

A vast region in China north-west, Xinjiang is home to a number of ethnic groups, including the minority Uighurs.

China tightly controls the area, saying it is fighting separatism and religious extremism there, though it has been accused of a raft of human rights abuses aimed at assimilating the mostly Muslim Uighurs and other groups.

The authorities appear to have used the security apparatus built to quell political dissent in Xinjiang and other outlying areas to combat pushback against Covid-19 restrictions, as well.

With China’s borders effectively closed as part of its zero-Covid-19 approach, however, Xinjiang’s popularity as a domestic tourist destination has surged.

Like other travel locales in China this summer, the region, known for its dramatic scenery and history as a Silk Road gateway, has seen outbreaks of Covid-19, which have triggered lockdowns and mass testing efforts: disruptive moves aimed at eliminating cases in line with the country’s virus playbook.

Yining City in Yili, home to some 500,000 people, has been locked down since at least Aug 11.

Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, also remains locked down, along with other areas.

The region reported 28 Covid-19 infections for Saturday, down from more than 400 a day last month.

Food prices in some areas of Xinjiang subject to stay-at-home orders were being jacked up by suppliers, and there have been complaints about the quality of groceries provided by residential committees, according to local media reports.

Some of the residents in Yining said that food deliveries had been reduced to a monotonous diet of rice, naan or instant noodles. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about a reaction from officials.

Officials have scrambled to head off the rising frustration in Yining by acknowledging failings.

As China has intensified its response against Covid-19 this year, the lockdowns have become more intense, with food shortages and problems accessing medical care widespread during Shanghai’s two-month lockdown.

With the Communist Party’s once-in-five-years Congress looming in mid-October, Covid-19 restrictions are becoming more uncompromising, with officials in Guiyang, a city of 6 million people in China’s south that was recently locked down also saying they had seen issues with food and other supplies.

The disruption is being felt beyond the lives of those who are locked down, with the measures upending businesses and supply chains, despite government efforts to mitigate the impact.

 

 

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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