Country steps up efforts to control a surge in coronavirus cases as it tries to maintain its zero Covid policy. Major cities such as Shenzhen and Changchun have been locked down as Covid cases hit a two-year high. Nearly 90% of new infections are in Jilin province, while tens of millions of people across the country remain confined to their homes The Guardian
Tag: Society
‘It’s like we are being left to die’: Hong Kong tackles deadliest Covid wave
Staff meetings are often mundane affairs and rarely end in tears. But on Wednesday Ho Hiu-fai, the accident and emergency chief at Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth hospital, broke down in front of his team. “It has been so hard for our colleagues to hold up this past month,” he could be heard saying in a video, shortly after the hospital was converted into a Covid treatment facility and 400 non-Covid patients were transferred elsewhere. <gu-island name="EmbedBlockComponent" deferuntil="visible" props="{"html":"","isTracking":true,"isMainMedia":false,"source":"Facebook","sourceDomain":"facebook.com"}” readability=”3″> Allow Facebook content? This article includes content provided by Facebook. We…
Nearly 30% think China likely to have spread Covid on purpose, UK poll finds
More than a quarter of people believe Covid-19 was likely to have been a biological weapon intentionally spread by the Chinese state, according to a new UK poll highlighting the spread of conspiracy theories. The findings are contained in a major report by the campaign group Hope Not Hate (HNH) warning that the rise of Covid conspiracy theories and the antilockdown movement are recruiting young people to far-right ideas and movements. It also says the economic hardship of the past year and worries about the future have created an environment…
‘A new culture’: discovery in China reveals ochre processing in east Asia up to 41,000 years ago
A 40,000-year-old archaeological site in northern China has unearthed the earliest evidence of ochre processing in east Asia, researchers say. The site was discovered at Xiamabei in the Nihewan Basin, in the northern Chinese province of Hebei. Ochre pieces and tools found in the area suggest that the clay earth pigment was processed there, via grinding and pounding, to produce powders of different colours and grain sizes. Near lumps of ochre, archaeologists unearthed a hammer stone as well as a flat limestone slab that showed signs of battering. In a…
China’s dating shows for over-65s challenge taboos about older people and sex
Standing before the studio audience the slim older man holds a microphone in front of his blue polo shirt, buttoned to the neck. Wang Qingming seems a little nervous as he faces his prospective date, a formidable looking woman with long black hair piled in a loose bun, her name tag obscured. “What bad habits do you have?” he asks. “I’m hungry,” she replies to laughter. “But no mahjong, no smoking, no drinking.” Asked about her health the woman says her physical condition is good, “but I can’t get pregnant…
Video of woman chained to wall in shack causes outcry in China
A video of a woman apparently locked against her will in a filthy shack has gone viral in China, prompting an investigation as well as a conversation about the country’s treatment of people with mental illness. The footage, taken on 26 January, was posted to the video-sharing site Douyin the following day by a man who was shocked to find the woman locked in the rubbish-filled building in a village in Jiangsu province in the east of the country. Standing in freezing conditions, the woman appeared to be chained by…
‘Stop nagging!’: why China’s generation Z is resisting marriage and babies
Early this month, China’s state news agency Xinhua posted a video reminding young Chinese men born in the year 2000 that they are now finally eligible to get married. “Post 00s have reached legal marriage age,” it declared. The hashtag swiftly popped up in the “top-searched list” of Weibo hot topics, but many read it as the government’s attempt to put pressure on them. “Who dares to get married these days? Don’t we need to make money?” one questioned. “Stop nagging me!” said another. Under Chinese law, men can marry…
Chaoyang masses: the rise of Beijing’s neighbourhood patrols
They are often seen wearing a red armband patrolling residential neighbourhoods of Chaoyang, the biggest district of Beijing, which is home to nearly 3.5 million people. On a sunny late autumn afternoon, they will sit with a group of retirees in the sun and chat away. But when an individual of interest turns up, their attention quickly diverts to them. In Chinese media and official police statements, these vigilante neighbourhood watchers are called the “Chaoyang masses”. Last week, the state-owned Global Times went a step further, quoting internet users as…
The U.S., Muslims, and a Turbulent Post-9/11 World
How did the 9/11 attacks affect American Muslims? Muslims were among the thousands of victims of the 9/11 attacks perpetrated by hijackers from Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yet, arguably not since the 1979 Iran hostage crisis had American Muslims experienced the kind of intense scrutiny and distrust that was unleashed after the attacks. More From Our Experts Physical assault, emotional abuse, and discrimination, alongside an often-politicized conversation about “real Islam,” have created a toxic environment for American Muslims ever since. Although most Americans did not…