China censored on Wednesday the statements of the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) in which he publicly criticized Beijing’s “zero Covid” policy, calling them irresponsible.
The Asian giant faces a epidemic outbreak and imposes lockdowns Y quarantines as soon as some cases are detected.
These measures, coupled with a near closure of borders and reduced international air connections, are adding to exasperation in China.
It is the case in Shanghai (in the east), with 25 million inhabitants, and whose confinement since the beginning of April has been punctuated by food supply problems. Residents also fear being forcibly sent to isolation centers.
The head of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid on Tuesday that the “zero Covid” policy was “unsustainable”, in unusual criticism of China.
“Moving to another strategy will be very important,” he added.
This measure is firmly defended by the highest communist leaders, such as President Xi Jinping.
Therefore, the censors quickly intervened to stop the spread of the WHO chief’s claims.
On the Weibo microblogging platform, the keywords #Tedros and #WHO did not yield any results on Wednesday.
Users of the very popular WeChat social network could not repost or transfer an article from the official account of the UNpublished on this platform and which mentions the criticism of the head of the WHO.
It was possible, however, to discuss the topic online with one of your contacts or post screenshots of the articles on your WeChat wall.
Asked about the statements of the head of the WHO, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao LijiangHe told reporters that China’s move was “scientific and effective.”
“We hope that these certain people have an objective and rational look at China’s policy of prevention and epidemic controland that they have a better understanding of reality and refrain from making irresponsible claims”.
For its part, the Chinese press did not comment.
The former editor-in-chief of the nationalist tabloid Global Times, Hu Xijinvery influential on the internet, considered the criticism of the WHO “unimportant”.
“If they say that the Chinese method is not sustainable, they would have to present one that is more effective and sustainable. But they do not give any!” He said on his Weibo account, with 24 million followers.