Under China's Covid-19 lockdown, Xinjiang residents complain of hunger

Residents of a city in China's far west Xinjiang region say they are experiencing hunger, forced quarantines and dwindling supplies of medicine and daily necessities after more than 40 days in a virus lockdown. 
 

Hundreds of posts from Ghulja riveted users of Chinese social media last week, with residents sharing videos of empty fridges, feverish children, and people screaming from their windows. The dire conditions and food shortages are reminiscent of a harsh lockdown in Shanghai this spring, when thousands of residents posted online, complaining they were delivered rotting vegetables or denied critical medical care. 

As more infectious variants of the coronavirus creep into China, flare-ups have become increasingly common. Under China's “zero-Covid” strategy, tens of millions or people are experiencing rolling lockdowns, paralysing the economy and making travel uncertain.

The lockdown in Ghulja is also evoking fears of police brutality among the Uyghurs, the Turkic ethnic group native to Xinjiang. For years, the region has been the target of a sweeping security crackdown, ensnaring huge numbers of Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minorities in a vast network of camps and prisons. 

Multiple people in the region told AP the posts online reflected the dire nature of the lockdown, but declined to detail their own situations, saying that they feared retribution. On Monday, local police announced the arrests of six people for “spreading rumors” about the lockdown, including posts about a dead child and an alleged suicide, which they said “incited opposition” and “disrupted social order."

Leaked directives from government offices show that workers are being ordered to avoid negative information and spread “positive energy” instead. One directed state media to film “smiling seniors” and “children having fun” in neighborhoods emerging from the lockdown.

“Those who maliciously hype, spread rumours, and make unreasonable accusations should be dealt with in accordance with the law,” one notice warned.

The AP  was unable to independently verify the notices. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.