China's Xinjiang loosens some restrictions after lockdown protests - CNA

People in Urumqi largely marched peacefully in big puffy winter jackets in the cold winter night.

Videos of protests featured people holding the Chinese flag and shouting “Open up, open up." They spread rapidly on Chinese social media despite heavy censorship. In some scenes, people shouted and pushed against rows of men in the white whole-body hazmat suits that local government workers and pandemic-prevention volunteers wear, according to the videos.

By Saturday, most had been deleted by censors. The Associated Press could not independently verify all the videos, but two Urumqi residents who declined to be named out of fear of retribution said large-scale protests occurred Friday night. One of them said he had friends who participated.

The AP pinpointed the locations of two of the videos of the protests in different parts of Urumqi. In one video, police in face masks and hospital gowns faced off against shouting protesters. In another, one protester is speaking to a crowd about their demands. It is unclear how widespread the protests were.

In one video, which the AP could not independently verify, Urumqi's top official, Yang Fasen, told angry protesters he would open up low-risk areas of the city the following morning.

That promise was realised the next day, as Urumqi authorities announced that residents of low risk areas would be allowed to move freely within their neighborhoods. Still, many other neighborhoods remain under lockdown.

Officials also triumphantly declared Saturday that they had basically achieved “societal zero-COVID," meaning that there was no more community spread and that new infections were being detected only in people already under health monitoring, such as those in a centralised quarantine facility.

Social media users greeted the news with disbelief and sarcasm. “Only China can achieve this speed,” wrote one user on Weibo.

On Chinese social media, where trending topics are manipulated by censors, the “zero-COVID” announcement was number one trending hashtag on both Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, and Douyin, the Chinese edition of Tiktok. The apartment fire and protests became a lightning rod for public anger, as millions shared posts questioning China's pandemic controls or mocking the country's stiff propaganda and harsh censorship controls.

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2022-11-26 13:56:00Z
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Deadly Xinjiang fire stirs anger at China's zero-COVID policy - CNA

BEIJING: A deadly fire in China's northwest Xinjiang region has spurred an outpouring of anger at the country's zero-COVID policy, as Beijing fights growing public fatigue over its hardline approach to containing the coronavirus.

Ten people were killed and nine injured when the blaze ripped through a residential building in the regional capital Urumqi on Thursday night, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Online posts circulating on both Chinese and overseas social media platforms since Friday have claimed that lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns in the city hampered rescue attempts.

Some videos appeared to show crowds of people taking to the streets of Urumqi to protest against the measures.

The action comes against a backdrop of mounting public frustration over the government's zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19 and follows sporadic protests in other cities.

China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-COVID strategy, with authorities wielding snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing to snuff out new outbreaks as they emerge.

Footage partially verified by AFP shows hundreds of people massing outside the Urumqi city government offices during the night, chanting: "Lift lockdowns!"

In another clip, dozens of people are seen marching through a neighbourhood in the east of the city, shouting the same slogan before facing off with a line of hazmat-clad officials and angrily rebuking security personnel.

AFP journalists were able to verify the videos by geolocating local landmarks, but were unable to specify when exactly the protests occurred.

A wave of anger simmered on the Weibo social media platform on Friday amid claims that parked electric vehicles left without power during lengthy lockdowns blocked fire engines from entering a narrow road to the burning building.

"I'm also the one throwing myself off the roof, trapped in an overturned (quarantine) bus, breaking out of isolation at the Foxconn factory," read one comment referencing several recent incidents blamed on zero-COVID strictures.

Chinese authorities censor online content deemed politically sensitive and appeared to have scrubbed many posts and hashtags relating to the fire by Saturday morning.

Urumqi police said in a Friday post on Weibo that they had detained a woman surnamed Su for "spreading online rumours" relating to the number of casualties from the blaze.

RARE APOLOGY

An initial investigation showed the blaze to have been caused by a board of electric sockets in the family bedroom of one of the apartments, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Rescue attempts were complicated by "a lack of parking spaces and a large number of private vehicles parked on both sides" of a narrow road to the building, city fire and rescue chief Li Wensheng told reporters late Friday, CCTV said.

Urumqi mayor Maimaitiming Kade offered a rare formal apology for the blaze at the briefing, according to the broadcaster.

But officials also pushed back against some of the online allegations, denying that residents' doors had been clamped shut with iron wiring.

COVID-19 controls have confined some communities in Urumqi - a city of 4 million people - to their homes for weeks on end.

But in the wake of the protests, officials on Saturday said the city "had basically reduced social transmissions to zero" and would "restore the normal order of life for residents in low-risk areas in a staged and orderly manner".

Pandemic fatigue has been growing in China, with violent protests erupting at a vast COVID-hit factory in the central city of Zhengzhou in recent days due to a dispute over pay and labour conditions.

China recorded 34,909 new domestic infections on Saturday, the vast majority of which were asymptomatic, according to the National Health Commission.

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2022-11-26 05:25:00Z
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China reports third consecutive daily record for new COVID-19 cases - CNA

BEIJING: China reported 35,183 new COVID-19 infections on Nov 25, of which 3,474 were symptomatic and 31,709 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday (Nov 26), setting a new high for the third consecutive day.

That compared with 32,943 new cases a day earlier – 3,103 symptomatic and 29,840 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

Excluding imported cases, China reported 34,909 new local cases on Friday, of which 3,405 were symptomatic and 31,504 were asymptomatic, up from 32,695 a day earlier.

There were no deaths, keeping fatalities at 5,232. As of Friday, mainland China had confirmed 304,093 cases with symptoms.

Mega-cities continue to struggle to contain outbreaks, with Chongqing and Guangzhou recording the bulk of new cases.

Chongqing, a southwestern city of 32 million people, reported 7,721 new local cases for Friday, a jump of almost 20 per cent from the previous day.

Guangzhou, a prosperous city of nearly 19 million people in southern China, reported 7,419 new local cases for Friday, down slightly from 7,524 cases a day earlier.

New local cases for Friday in the capital Beijing jumped 58 per cent to 2,595, according to figures released by local health authorities on Saturday.

There are COVID outbreaks in almost all Chinese provinces, with Hebei, Sichuan, Shanxi and Qinghai provinces each registering more than a thousand new cases on Friday. (Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Editing by Kim Coghill, William Mallard and Edmund Klamann)

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2022-11-26 04:21:21Z
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Taiwan votes in local elections amid tensions with China - CNA

The election is happening a month after the end of the 20th congress of China's Communist Party, where President Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term in office - a point Tsai has repeatedly made on the campaign trail.

Although the outcome of the election will be an important measure of popular support for both parties, it cannot necessarily be read as an augur for the next presidential and parliamentary races in 2024.

Tsai and the DPP heavily defeated the KMT in 2020 despite their setback at the 2018 local polls. Her second term in office runs out in 2024 and she cannot stand again as president because of term limits.

Both parties have concentrated their efforts on wealthy and populous northern Taiwan, especially the capital, Taipei, whose current mayor, from the small Taiwan People's Party, cannot stand again after two terms in office.

Taiwanese elections are raucous and colourful affairs, with candidates touring their districts on the backs of trucks and SUVs seeking support, with music blaring and campaign flags fluttering.

There is also a vote on lowering the voting age to 18 from 20, which both parties support.

The election results should be clear by early evening on Saturday.

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2022-11-26 00:44:00Z
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Thousands flocked to a spiritual leader who claimed he could multiply money. Then, dead bodies turned up - CNA

Abdul was a respected figure in Probolinggo regency and news of his murder shook the community. The manhunt for the murderers began.

In May, the police made arrests. One of them, Wahyudi, was the leader of the foundation’s security team. He was also an active member of the Kopassus, the Indonesian Army’s special forces command.

But there were still many unanswered questions. “Why did they murder? What was the motive?” said Rakhmad Hari Basuki from the East Java High Prosecution Office, who prosecuted the murders. “They had no grudge against Abdul Gani.”

More disturbing news surfaced. Abdul’s colleague was also missing – and had been for some time.

The disappearance of Ismail Hidayah, the foundation’s coordinator, had been reported by his wife more than a year ago. When Abdul was found murdered, the police figured out that Ismail had also been murdered. 

His body had, in fact, been found in February 2015. But at the time, recalled journalist Babul, the unidentified corpse was completely unrecognisable. No one took notice, he added, because “why should we care about this unknown person”?

With the identification now made, it wasn’t long before investigators found the common thread. “Ismail, Abdul and Dimas – they’re known as old friends,” said Babul. “It means there are two people, close friends of Dimas Kanjeng, who (died of) unnatural causes.”

WATCH: Exposing The Schemes Of A Spiritual Conman In Indonesia (46:12)

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2022-11-25 22:01:11Z
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China's tightening COVID-19 curbs fuel pushback - CNA

At the world's largest iPhone factory in the central city of Zhengzhou, more than 20,000 new hires have left after COVID-19-related worker unrest this week, further imperilling output at Apple supplier Foxconn's plant there, Reuters reported.

References to a speech by a man in the southwestern city of Chongqing who called for the government to admit its mistakes on COVID-19 were shared widely on Chinese social media.

"Give me liberty or death," the bespectacled man told onlooking residents in an impassioned speech on Thursday, according to videos seen by Reuters.

"There is only one disease in the world and that is being both poor and not having freedom," he added. "We have now got both. We're still struggling and suffering over a little cold."

The man was later seen being bundled towards a police car by security personnel, prompting angry shouts from onlookers.

Hashtags related to the man, who netizens have called "Chongqing's superman brother" or "Chongqing hero", were censored on Friday. But individual users continued to show support by posting subtle messages or cartoon pictures of him.

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES?

As lockdowns afflict more people, some residents are proposing alternative approaches for their communities. In Beijing, residents of some compounds shared on WeChat proposals for how infected neighbours could quarantine at home if they did not display serious symptoms.

It's not clear whether such proposals would succeed.

Notices listing the circumstances under which health workers may remove a person from their home, aimed at educating people of their rights if asked to be taken to a quarantine centre, were also circulated online.

Oxford Economics senior economist Louise Loo said in a note that reports of public dissatisfaction across provinces in partial or full lockdowns have gained momentum, as was the case during the last big outbreak in April, although these "don't yet reflect large-scale collective action".

"As before, we expect officials to be able to respond swiftly to stem the social risk of escalating protests, either through a combination of heavier-handed information controls or with piecemeal easing of restrictions," Loo said.

Although the April outbreak was concentrated in Shanghai, case clusters this time are numerous and far-flung.

The southern city of Guangzhou and southwestern Chongqing have recorded the bulk of cases, while cities including Chengdu, Jinan, Lanzhou, Xian and Wuhan logged hundreds of new infections daily. Beijing reported 1,860 cases for Thursday.

In the east, Nanjing in Jiangsu province said it would conduct mass testing for five straight days from Saturday, the latest city to announce such plans. 

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2022-11-25 09:23:00Z
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Commentary: Even if Malaysia PM Anwar forms unity government, questions remain how long it can last - CNA

PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said that his coalition is not interested in joining a unity government with PH. In fact, Muhyiddin has publicly challenged Anwar for the latter’s command of a parliamentary majority, to which Anwar replied with his intention to bring forth a vote of confidence at the first sitting of the new parliament in December.

But even if Muhyiddin stays true to PN’s snubbing, there will still be political wrangling in the existing ruling coalition. According to a Sin Chew Daily report on Nov 24, BN, and especially its leading party UMNO, was bargaining hard for the more “powerful” Cabinet posts, including the finance minister role, which could allow it to hold the government’s purse strings and thus disburse more resources to the party’s benefit.

Anwar’s party reportedly invited Nazir Razak, an apolitical prominent banker and estranged brother of former prime minister Najib Razak, to hold that important position instead.

The new federal ruling coalition could lead to political realignments even at the state level. Take Sabah for example, currently ruled by GRS and BN Sabah. PH and Parti Warisan Sabah could demand to be included in the state’s administration as well.

It also raises a question for upcoming state elections of PH-ruled Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan: Whether the various component parties in the federal ruling coalition will fight one another electorally.

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2022-11-25 07:35:00Z
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