Shanghai residents who have been trapped in lockdown conditions that have barely eased over the span of a month-and-a-half were given a sense of false hope on Friday, when Chinese news outlets mistakenly reported that Disneyland in Shanghai was preparing to open with limited capacity.
*Ignore: Chinese news outlets mistakenly publish report that "Shanghai Disneyland resort to reopen with limited capacity from May 11". Reopening happened in 2020, not 2022.CURRENTLY NO TIMELINE FOR REOPENING OF SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND RESORT.— CN Wire (@Sino_Market) May 6, 2022
Those reports were quickly retracted, and instead, the Politburo doubled down on China's "COVID zero" policy, while President Xi insisted that the lockdowns would withstand the test of time, and that pledged to combat any attempts to "distort" or "question" the CCP's heavy handed policies.
The SCMP reported that this marked the first time that Xi has spoken out in defense of the country's lockdown in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, in Beijing, local authorities have closed public transport routes, told people to work from home and ordered mass testing in an effort to stop the capital outflows.
In a statement issued after the latest meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Politburo insisted that the Chinese people must stand strong in the face of COVID.
"We must be firm in overcoming thoughts of indifference and self-righteous thinking, and underestimating the epidemic," a statement issued after the meeting said.
"We must keep a clear head and unwaveringly adhere to the general policy of dynamic zero-Covid. We must struggle against speech and acts that distort, question or reject our country’s anti-epidemic guidelines and policy."
That President Xi has felt the need to directly address the lockdowns is hardly a surprise. As we have noted, the lockdown in China's financial and economic capital has led to an intense blowback among the public (well, as intense as criticism of the government ever gets in China), with residents complained of food shortages, difficulties in gaining medical treatment and fences being set up outside residential buildings to stop residents leaving.
(Article by Tyler Durden republished from Zerohedge.com)
