Chinese censors quickly scrub CCP statements about five more years of lockdowns

A top Chinese Communist Party official’s suggestion that the country’s harsh “zero-COVID” policy could remain in place in Beijing for the “next five years” was quickly censored from the internet after it sparked fierce backlash online.

Beijing Daily, the official state newspaper in Beijing, reported on Monday that that Cai Qi, the city’s party chair promised to uphold regular neighborhood health checks and strict entry/exit rules to protect the capital from domestic and imported cases of COVID-19.

His use of phrase “the next five years” sparked outrage on Chinese social media, reports CNN.

"I have to rethink whether I should continue to stay in Beijing in the long term," said one user on microblogging platform Weibo.

"For the next five years...what is the point of being alive even," another user said.

Beijing Daily quickly removed the line, describing it as an “editing error.” Weibo also banned the hashtag “for the next five years” from its site, according to CNN.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has stood firm by his zero-COVID strategy of harsh lockdowns and mass testing, which has caused friction between the central government and pro-business leaders.

Recent reports have highlighted rising mental health issues among China’s young who were locked down despite little health risks from COVID, with one expert claiming suicide among youth has doubled or even tripled since the initial outbreak.

“It’s the basis of mental health to be able to move around unrestricted, have normal work and intimate relations, but the pandemic has destroyed them all,” said Xu Kaiwei, the Chinese psychiatrist who commented on youth suicide.

“No more goals, no more endeavours, no more hope,” wrote Lvyexianzong, a Beijing-based entertainment blogger with more than 17,000 followers, in response to Cai’s proclamation.