US President Joe Biden was slammed after the White House refused to condemn China for its lockdown policies.
On Monday, the Biden administration refused to criticize China’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown policies despite knowing that the latter’s pandemic regime has sparked massive protests across the country.
In an exclusive report by Daily Caller, it alleged that “General Secretary Xi Jinping has championed a “Zero COVID” lockdown strategy that aims to completely eliminate the virus from Chinese society, but also required severe, weeks-long isolation periods that reportedly saw people throw themselves from high-rise buildings in attempt to escape quarantine and authorities welding apartment entrances shut.”
The report also claimed that on Friday, thousands of people across the country protested which quickly “morphed from expressions of dissatisfaction with the Zero COVID policy to rage against the authoritarian regime,” the report added.
But despite the controversy, the Biden administration remained silent, refusing to condemn China’s repressive response, even after the correspondents from the Daily Caller News Foundation reached out multiple times.
The safety, health, & well-being of 🇺🇸 citizens in 🇨🇳 is US Mission China’s #1 priority. We are monitoring the COVID situation and assisting 🇺🇸 citizens with challenges due to lockdowns and restrictions. Call us 24/7: +86 10 8531 4000. Register in STEP: https://t.co/D7AV5Myzcd
— Ambassador Nicholas Burns (@USAmbChina) November 28, 2022
In a statement released by a spokesperson for the National Security Council told the DCNF “we’ve said that Zero COVID is not a policy we [are] pursuing here. And as we’ve said, we think it’s going to be very difficult for the People’s Republic of China to be able to contain this virus through their zero COVID strategy.”
In a report released by the New York Times, it was revealed that “Xi’s signature Zero COVID policy involved extensive contact tracing, testing and quarantine measures, often confining millions of people to their homes for weeks at a time. Lockdowns led to widespread hunger, medicine shortages, looting and feelings of social isolation, while the CCP censored online dissent,” Daily Caller added.
Last Thursday, at least 10 people were killed after a fire swallowed a residential building in Urumqi, in Xinjiang province.
Social media users alleged that locked doors, barriers and other COVID-19-related restrictions on building access played a huge role in killing the victims by preventing them from escaping or firefighters from reaching the flames.
In response, the NSC spokesperson told the DCNF that “We’ve long said everyone has the right to peacefully protest, in the United States and around the world. This includes in the PRC.”
“To prevent something bloody, it’s very important for the international community to send a strong message to the Chinese government,” Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute added.
