Posted on 05/27/2003 6:07:45 PM PDT by Enemy Of The State
Situation in 'SARS-free' city anything but calm
By Asia Times Online Staff
HONG KONG - Pingtang is a small suburb on the outskirts of Changsha, capital of south-central China's Hunan province. All vehicles heading toward Changsha from Xiangtan now must pass through Pingtang. During the climax of local anti-SARS efforts, authorities established a temporary traffic checkpoint where everyone who was coming or going received a compulsory body-temperature check and each vehicle passing through was inspected.
Last week, however, this checkpoint was converted into a station for fighting the flooding of the Xiang River, a main waterway in the province. After the flooding peaked, everyone who had been on duty abandoned his post and went home. The result is an anti-SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) "checkpoint" that has been reduced to a covered space that is used by pedestrians, vegetable sellers, and migrant workers returned from working in cities for avoiding rain or whiling away the hours with conversation.
The entirety of Changsha's anti-SARS situation resembles the tiny checkpoint in Pingtang. Once the furious thunderclap emerged from China's central government, Changsha immediately began posturing: setting up checkpoints everywhere imaginable, inspecting anyone who happened to be outside, etc. The most severe anti-SARS warriors did no less than force anyone and everyone who had arrived from Beijing or Guangdong into quarantine - regardless of whether they were displaying SARS-like symptoms. The campaign scared people to the point where for several days running there were but a few dozen people on board the T1 express train between Changsha and Beijing.
One city, two battles
Upon arrival of the Xiang River flooding's peak stage, Changsha was provided with a justification for severe relief measures. Despite the introduction of the measures by Changsha media as "fighting SARS with one hand, battling the flood with the other", in the wake of the disappearance of the ubiquitous checkpoints, Changsha's eating and drinking venues experienced a dramatic rebound in business. In large restaurants in the south of the city which have hundreds of large tables for diners, regardless of whether it was dinner or lunch, business was so good that there was constantly a mass of people inside and outside of the restaurants waiting for tables to become available.
Hunan has already gone for 20 days without issuing an update of its SARS situation, and to this day Changsha has yet to announce a diagnosed case of SARS. Because of this, although the local government has not publicly given the all-clear signal, the signs and placards in front of businesses and their vague message: "This store has been disinfected" are all somewhat the same. However, SARS has seeped into almost every conversation over tea or after meals in Changsha. Even then, the conversation is almost exclusively about the sympathy or pity that Changsha residents are feeling for people in Beijing or Guangdong.
Anti-SARS measures meet public resistance
Four Changsha street vendors tasted the bitterness that came with Hunan's temporary SARS vigilance. The mats that they used to vend their wares on the street were designated obstructions to efforts to control SARS, hence they became the first recipients of the swift and severe "special treatment" for those accused of obstructing the People's War against SARS.
In Changsha's Yuhua district on May 6, members of the district's municipal management team, acting in accordance with SARS control measures newly passed by the district government, proceeded to the Gaoqiao market to focus on dealing with anybody who was occupying the market's walkways.
Yang Zhengming was operating a small stall in the walkway. Yang had not heeded attempts by the municipal management team to dissuade him from taking up space at the Neijia Electronics City, rather choosing to continue to occupy a portion of the market that had been legally ordered to remain clear. Team members subsequently decided to confiscate his merchandise temporarily. That was when the team encountered obstruction vis-a-vis Yang and his wife Liu Xiujiao. It was at that moment that Yang declared, "Whoever so much as touches my merchandise is going to die!" Liu then leaped on the team's car, seizing some merchandise that had already been confiscated. Then the team was surrounded by vendors who began urging everyone present to attack the team's members physically. The ensuing chaos led to the severe beating of a manager working in the market who had previously cooperated with the team. The team's vehicle was also heavily damaged by the angry crowd. There was no way for the SARS control exercise to continue.
The Gaoqiao police substation immediately dispatched officers to the scene to investigate, where Liu was arrested. Yang's mother, Zhou Chunjin, witnessed the goings-on and in a rage snatched the collar of one officer's uniform and proceeded to scratch and bite him, inflicting injuries. That was when Liu Rixiang took advantage of the confusion to attack the arresting officer from the side, knocking him to the ground and allowing Liu to flee the scene, after which Liu Rixiang turned and attacked a public security officer, beating him severely and inflicting injuries upon the officer. The result of this attempt to enforce the district's new anti-SARS measures ran into major obstruction, and an originally minor rule infraction became a violent melee and a horrible mess.
After the dust settled, the Yuhua district prosecutor's office immediately set its investigative machine into motion, with the chief investigator and deputy investigator personally prosecuting the case. On May 19, the criminal suspects Yang Zhengming, Liu Rixiang, Zhou Chunjin and Liu Xiujiao were publicly prosecuted for their involvement in the obstruction of public affairs. In an extraordinarily swift and coordinated effort by various local legal organs, the group was tried and convicted in less than eight hours.
Countryside concerns
Changsha residents in recent days have become increasingly concerned with the recent successive outbreaks of influenza A in Shenzhen in neighboring Guangdong province, as well as in a few areas in Hunan. Cruelly, the symptoms for influenza A are quite similar to those of SARS: those who are infected typically develop a fever, stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, watery eyes, body aches, etc. It is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract. Furthermore, it is highly contagious and easily transmitted to a large group of people in a tight space. The differences between the two lie in that influenza A does not affect the lungs.
What currently has people perplexed is the fact that the high season for influenza usually occurs between winter and spring - not on the cusp of summer, as is now happening. This strange occurrence has people wondering if it is not influenza A but rather a new mutation of SARS.
Translated by Christopher Horton.
Take one step forward, and two steps backward!
Good post,it shows how "easy" it is to get the people to change their ways when confronted with losing their livelihood.
I saw an article that said China was putting a stop to hunting and dealing in wild game.That will be much easier said than done.
Hope you and yours stay well. :o)
What people's war? What people? All I can see are government agents. Are they trying to go PC in China too? They cannot call martial law what martial law is?
I guess they call themselves communists while being a fascist nation, so same ol same ol in China.
Yes, and you were saying maybe a small amount of people were sick and infected and calling reports of much higher figures, that in retrospect were obviously accurate, "bogus".
"Known" as in what the Chinese Communist government stated - ie their massive lies about it.
Others knew there were a lot more people affected but you said they were bogus.
The info presented at the "bogus" site was certainly accurate. It predated the media franzy and "opening up" of China.
It said 280 people were dead of it and mentioned the large number of health care workers infected.
It was accurate and has been born out. You called it bogus.
My comments to that thread:
No, in fact the story is true. I spoke with my fiance yesterday as I do everyday and she told me that in the past 2 days there had been 12 people die of this "mysterious virus", two of them being doctors. Today she said that there were estimated to be around 70 some doctors infected by this virus, more have already died.
By the way, she lives in Guangzhou, where the virus was believed to have broken out.
Early reports stated that they believed it was a bacterial virus that plagued HK back in 1997, which is said to have come from certain types of poultry. ( Avian Influenza) However, later that theory was dismissed.
When she went out ot buy vinegar (which they boil in their homes to sterilzie the air) she paid only 5RMB but later people were paying as much as 20 or more. (normal price is about 1.4 RMB) I guess there are no shortage of capitalists there....
28 posted on 02/11/2003 9:07 PM EST by Enemy Of The State
You stated it was bogus.
If you meant more, then maybe you should have explained it after I asked you about it.
Admit it, you bought the ChiCom propaganda. It's OK. Don't go in to some big huff now. Live and learn.
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