On May 6th, Twitter user Anthony tweeted: “Everyone in the building where I live is going to be quarantined. I asked if I can bring my cat, they said you have to wait for the answer. I have prepared four bowls of water, cans of cat food, and I opened the tap water. Now I am waiting for them to come to see how they will deal with my cat. I am in (some place) of Dandong. If they don’t help me to take care of the cat, please call the government here on my behalf.”
More than 200 people retweeted it. Many expressed anger and sorrow for the man and his cat.
He then tweeted: “Please help me out, asking them (what they plan to do with my cat). A moment ago they came and I asked again, they told me to keep lots of water, but they did not tell me what they will do with the cat.”
After a few more tweets, he said: “Please be assured, I will not let Anthony stay here alone. If I can not win over them, I will go to jail. When my apartment is accessible, my local friends will try to find Anthony, the food I left is enough for a while for Anthony.”
Anthony is the name of his cat.
He then updated: “The current situation is: they have dragged away some people, but they did not come to me yet. Before the cat is taken care of, I will not open the door. Thanks everyone. Now I am a bit out of control, so I will not reply to everyone.”
Two hours later, he tweeted again: “I finally reached the government official, she told me that I don’t have to be quarantined, as long as I stay home. So many people called her, including some Americans. Thank you everyone so much. No need to call her any more.”
This tweet got hundreds of retweets and replies. Many expressed joy and relief.
Later, a video allegedly from Dandong was uploaded on Twitter so you can see how the police arrested a young man: they used sticky tapes to restrict the man so that he looked like a living mummy. Later the police of Dandong claimed that the young man has mental issue and is violent. But who knows? And even if he is, the way he was taped, many twitter users commented, his blood flows were blocked and his life was in great danger.
On May 7th, “Anthony” tweeted that he was told to get the PCR test.
He said he did not want to take it. Because, he reasoned: he was in lockdown for 15 days, no one ever came to ask if he had food. The only thing they care about is the PCR test. What if he tested positive, what would happen to the cat?
May 8th, the government called his landlady and his friend to pressure him to take the PCR test.
While waiting to see how things will develop, he tweeted his experience: “In June 2020, I finished serving my term in Dali prison. In July, I was in Zunyi, the police came to arrest me and put me in administrative detention. I went to Guangzhou, in September, the police arrested me again and drove me out of Guangzhou. January 2021, the police came to arrest me in Zunyi, I escaped during the night. In Guangzhou, the police came again. In May 2021, I arrived in Dandong. I have been here for a year. Looks like I can not stay here any more. All the anger has a reason.”
He said that he thought about being jailed again on the 6th. If that happened again, he said he would just end his life. “Why did I go on hunger strike when I was in prison? Because that is the only time they would respect you, to save their own jobs.”
Finally on May 9th, he tweeted: “I just talked to the building manager, they will send people to my apartment for the PCR test. If I am positive and taken away for quarantine, he will take care of my cat. I agreed to this term.”
So by now, you must be curious, who is this guy? He is a rare case of partial victory of millions of people who found their lives turned upside down during the harsh COVID reset-to-0 movement.
Well, his name is Lu Yuyu, he was a citizen journalist who ran a website “Not the News” that documented “mass incidents” in China from 2012 to 2016. In 2016, Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu were awarded the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – TV5 Monde Press Freedom Prize in the category for citizen journalists. But later they were detained by the police and Lu was sentenced to four years of jail.
You can read a profile on Lu here.
This story was told by a Chinese-German who now lives in Germany and practices laws. She told it in a twitter thread. Below is a rough translation.
“Residents in my parents building were given some glass noodles that was of such bad quality that the noodles just melted the moment you put them in water. The residents went to protest, but got no answers. Everyday people tried to buy food via buying brigades (see our previous newsletter). But the products were of bad quality and they have to return them….. Everyday, this tires them tremendously.
“At the end of last month, they became Green (meaning cleared of COVID, so they can be free), but in reality they were still in lockdown. Everyone complained in the Wechat group, so the Residential Committee (the lowest local governmental institute) said that they will be given a gift package for May 1st holiday.
“A few days after May 1st, they got it: some fresh vegetables, a tooth brush (?). No eggs or meat. Still, good enough. People disinfected the food and put them in the fridge. Then, all of sudden, they got a notice saying that the gift package was not for them but for the neighbouring building. Soon someone came to get the packages back. My mom, in all of the confusion, also gave them two vegetables of her own. She was so sad that she could not sleep at night.
“Residents kept complaining. So the Residential committee promised them gift package will arrive soon. A day later, the gift package arrived, the same vegetables but most are rotten. Now, everyone is really mad, they complained angrily in the Wechat group, until someone said, let’s go to the Residential committee to file complains. Everyone went quiet.
“Then someone reminded everyone of the glass noodles incident when complains got them nothing; someone said that their vegetables was okay; someone said if we go out and our health code turns yellow (people with yellow health code can’t use public facilities), then we are in trouble; someone what said if the Residential committee got mad at us and refuses to buy medicine for us? Someone even said, if you want to go you go, if you get anything we will get it too.
“In the end, only the few families sharing the same exit with my parents went to complain. The woman on the fifth floor was very eloquent in the meeting, she did not give anyone else chance to speak. In the end, everyone got a new package of fresh vegetables, and 8 nice apples and pears. My mom was very happy, she had not see such nice fruits for a while.
“The Residential committee told them not to tell anyone else what they got. Well, they happily agreed.”
The twitter user finished her story with a comment: “The lowest level government ruled and the residents behaved like a plate of sand.”
It just happened that I heard professor Sean Carroll’s episode on primates with Frans de Waal recently. What is happening in China can be explained a lot by what Frans de Waal have observed in primates. I recommend the episode. Transcript is also available in the link, if you prefer to read.
Among so many interesting points made in the interview, some are very related to the stories we just told. For example, Primates that cooperate most also tend to have the strongest care for others since they understand how important it is that they have good relationship with each other. And with this practical needs, morality and culture were formed, even in primates. China, with its vast number of people, fast growing economy, of course there is lots of cooperation. And people care about each other. Especially in the most advanced city in China. Meanwhile, the COVID measures the government is carrying out, is destroying this part of the culture. It makes neighbours resenting each other and fighting over each other. They could not bind together to fight for their common interest and stopped sharing what they have got. This is very bad.