Public shaming returns in China as local governments struggle to contain COVID

A video from Southern China shows four suspects being paraded through the streets for allegedly violating COVID-19 rules, leading to a public outcry.

The incident took place in the Guangxi region’s Jingxi city, where it was reported by the state-run Guangxi Daily. The four men are masked and in hazmat suits, with their names and photos on large placards on their chests. Each is held by two police officers, also with protective gear, as riot police look on.

The four were accused of transporting illegal migrants while borders remain closed due to the pandemic.

Jingxi is near the Chinese border with Vietnam, where the COVID situation is “severe and complex,” according to state media. It faces “tremendous pressure” from Beijing, which maintains a strict zero-COVID strategy, to prevent imported cases.

#文革式防疫，廣西靖西遊街示眾 pic.twitter.com/khtJAAtz0X

— 新聞拍案驚奇 (@xwpajq_dayu) December 28, 2021

The video, which was posted to social media and shared by Zhengguan News, drew mixed reactions, from both the public and state-owned media.

Some citizens expressed horror, calling it “surreal” and a “retrogression in social civilization.” But others justified it as a last resort to protect the public as COVID cases surge.

State-owned Beijing News said that "the measure seriously violates the spirit of the rule of law and cannot be allowed to happen again."

The Jingxi City Public Security Bureau and local government defended the exercise, calling it an “on-site disciplinary warning activity” and there was no “inappropriateness.”

The Jingxi government website shows it has used similar public shaming parades in recent months for others suspected of illicit smuggling and human trafficking.

The use of public shaming was common during the country’s Cultural Revolution but has seen use by local governments through the early 2000s. They were most recently outlawed in 2010 in response to the public humiliation of sex workers.