China Covid: Record number of cases as virus surges nationwide
"The numbers are still tiny for a country of 1.4 billion people and officially just over 5,200 have died since the pandemic began.
That equates to three Covid deaths in every million in China, compared with 3,000 per million in the US and 2,400 per million in the UK, although direct comparisons between countries are difficult."
--- Officially.
"my compound has now told me that, after several rounds of mass testing, we are allowed to leave.
For most residents this will not make much difference though because hardly anything outside is open, including their workplaces."
--- There is no lockdown in Beijing. People (well, some of them) can still leave their buildings. Only problem is: they have nowhere to go. But, hey, it's not a lockdown!
Foxconn: iPhone maker apologises after huge protests at China plant
"On Thursday, Foxconn released a statement saying a "technical error occurred during the onboarding process", adding that the pay of new recruits was "the same as agreed [in the] official recruitment posters".
[...] A worker also told the BBC on Thursday that he had since received 8,000 yuan ($1,120; £926) and was set to receive another 2,000 yuan. He added that there were no more protesters and that he and his colleagues would return to the Foxconn factory."
--- So suddenly? Smells like the local government told Foxconn to pay the 10,000 RMB which local cadres had promised these workers, or else ...
CNN meanwhile has a different take on these 10,000 RMB:
Foxconn offers to pay workers to leave world’s largest iPhone factory after violent protests
"In the message, seen by CNN, the company urged workers to “please return to your dormitories” on the campus. It also promised to pay them 8.000 yuan if they agreed to quit Foxconn, and another 2,000 yuan after they board buses to leave the sprawling site altogether."
--- Hmm ...
Hard to say whether that actually was the idea of Foxconn, or rather, as suggested above, the city government being fed up with the protests & forcing Foxconn to stop the protests at all costs, or else ...
"On Thursday morning, some workers who had agreed to leave had received the first part of the payment, a worker said in a livestream, which showed workers lining up outdoors to take Covid tests while they waited for departing buses. Later in the day, livestreams showed long lines of workers boarding buses.
But for some, the trouble is far from over. After being driven to the Zhengzhou train station, many couldn’t get a ticket home, another worker said in a livestream on Thursday afternoon. Like him, thousands of workers were stuck at the station, he said, as he turned his camera to show the large crowds.
Zhengzhou is set to impose a five-day lockdown in its urban districts, which include the train station, starting from midnight Friday, authorities had announced earlier."
--- Out of the frying pan & into the fire. Or, well, perhaps more fitting: out of the fridge into the freezer.
"Having worked at the Zhengzhou plant for six years, he said he was now deeply disappointed by Foxconn and planned to quit. With a baseline monthly salary of 2,300 yuan, he has been earning between 4,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan per month, including overtime pay, working 10 hours a day and seven days a week during the pandemic.
“Foxconn is a Taiwanese company,” he said. “Not only did it not spread Taiwan’s values of democracy and freedom to the mainland, it was assimilated by the Chinese Communist Party and became so cruel and inhumane. I feel very sad about it.” "
--- Just like European companies spreading European values...
s.a.: China’s Apple ‘iPhone city’ tightens Covid rules after violent demos, Foxconn apologises for pay ‘error’
China imposes new lockdowns as local Covid cases hit record high
"The government of the north-eastern city of Changchun, in Jilin province, urged its residents to halt non-essential movement and avoid going to public places, restaurants and public gatherings."
--- & round & round & round it goes...
s.a.: Zero-Covid China asks: Is World Cup on another planet?
China’s Lockdown-led Carbon Emissions Drop Short-lived, Experts Say
"However, the drop in carbon emissions from COVID lockdowns will not last"
--- You don't say.
"A report from financial analysis firm S&P Global said China could “comfortably exceed” its current target of 33% for energy consumption in 2025, as the official figure for 2021 already reached close to 30%."
--- I wonder how many bridges I could sell to S&P.
UN committee urges China to free Xinjiang detainees, recommends reparations
"The committee’s statement adds to pressure on China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, to enact reforms following a report from the global body’s human rights chief in August which said its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslims may constitute crimes against humanity."
--- Actually, the pressure is not so much on China but on the UN Human Rights Council to properly investigate China.
Chinese state-run media orders Australia to scrap 'dangerous' AUKUS deal or risk 'stirring up trouble'
"Chinese Communist Party-owned media outlet The Global Times called for the security pact – between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States – to be scrapped or risk provoking China.
“AUKUS is clearly a threat to regional peace and security, as well as a barrier to improving China-Australia ties,”"
--- So much for thawing relations. The mafia smells a weakness, & immediately jumps on it.
"The AUKUS pact has also been met with criticism from French President Emmanuel Macron during last week’s APEC summit in Thailand.
He warned acquiring nuclear submarines under the pact risked “nuclear confrontation” with China and said the deal would “not deliver”"
--- Moron Macron ever more moronic.
Chinese Refugees in Italy Wary of Beijing Outposts
EU chief Charles Michel to head to China for Xi Jinping meeting
--- BBC News: "Record daily China Covid cases despite strict lockdowns"
--- WION: Gravitas | Record high Covid cases in China: Is this 2020 all over again?
--- WION: Fineprint: Chinese economy braces for major disruption
--- Al Jazeera: The Chinese entrepreneurs chasing an Afghan ‘gold rush’
China meldet Rekord bei Neuinfektionen
"Millionen Chinesinnen und Chinesen sind derzeit von solchen Maßnahmen betroffen. Darunter Menschen in der südlichen Wirtschaftsmetropole Guangzhou und in der Hauptstadt Peking."
--- Millionen Chinesen sind schon seit Monaten von solchen Maßnahmen betroffen. Bisher schwankte deren Bevölkerungsanteil aber zwischen 5 & 15%, jetzt sind über 20% mehr oder weniger von Lockdowns betroffen.
Das „Null Covid“-Land China wundert sich über die WM
"Ein Video wurde auf den sozialen Medien ganz besonders häufig geteilt: Es zeigt japanische Fans im Shibuya-Viertel von Tokio, die euphorisch den Sieg gegen Deutschland feierten. „Leben die auf derselben Welt wie wir?“, fragt ein Nutzer auf der Online-Plattform Weibo, offensichtlich verdutzt über den Alltag im Nachbarland.
[...] Die Propaganda der Staatsmedien behauptet schließlich nach wie vor, dass das Ausland im Covid-Chaos versinkt, während die Volksrepublik als einziger Staat der Welt die Menschenleben vor dem Virus schützen kann.
[...] Die Fußball-WM wird hingegen ganz offiziell im Staatssender CCTV übertragen"
--- Ja, wir armen Barbaren. Wir (naja, nicht alle, aber doch viele) wollen einfach nicht verstehen, wie toll die KPCh eigentlich ist. Echt schrecklich, ein Leben ohne die Weisheit des Kaisers Xi.
China wollte Resolution verhindern: UN-Menschenrechtsrat beschließt Untersuchung gegen den Iran
