US embassy in China urges Americans to stock up on daily necessities amid Covid surge and protests

Control measures could include residential quarantines, mass testing, transport disruptions and possible family separation, says mission in Beijing
‘We encourage all US citizens to keep a 14-day supply of medications, bottled water, and food’, it adds

US-China relations

Orange Wangin Washington

Published: 7:24am, 29 Nov 2022

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The US embassy in Beijing is urging American citizens in China to stock up on daily necessities in case of quarantines and lockdowns amid protests in major cities against the nation’s zero-Covid policy as cases soar and controls tighten.

In a statement directed at American citizens on Monday, the embassy said Chinese authorities had expanded Covid-19 prevention restrictions and control measures as outbreaks happen.

The measures could include residential quarantines, mass testing, closures, transport disruptions, lockdowns and possible family separation, according to the statement.

“We encourage all US citizens to keep a 14-day supply of medications, bottled water, and food for yourself and any members of your household,” the embassy said.

Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, and other diplomats in the country have regularly raised concerns related to the Covid restrictions “directly” with senior Chinese officials and will continue to do so, the embassy added.

The statement came at a moment when residents in a handful of Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, took to the streets during the weekend in a rare public show of defiance to protest against the country’s stringent coronavirus control protocols following the death of 10 people in a fire at an apartment block last week in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

It was not the first time for the US mission in China to issue such an announcement during the pandemic. Embassy officials in April advised American citizens not to travel to Hong Kong, Shanghai and the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin when a two-month lockdown in Shanghai was taking place.

That statement published two days before the State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees and their family members from its consulate in Shanghai.

As of this week, China’s Covid-19 case numbers have reached new highs since the pandemic began, with more than 40,000 infections reported on Sunday.

Multiple urban centres across the nation of 1.4 billion people have recently beefed up their restriction measures.

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In terms of gross domestic product, more than a quarter of the Chinese economy has been negatively impacted by Covid controls, exceeding the previous peak value of 21.2 per cent recorded in mid-April during Shanghai’s lockdown, said Ting Lu, Nomura’s chief China economist, in a note on Monday citing the firm’s model.

“The rapid increase in public discontent over the lockdowns over the past weekend may further cloud the road to reopening,” he wrote.

Foreign investors have continued to express their worries over what they perceive as China’s lack of a clear exit plan and “inconsistent” practices by local bureaucrats in implementing Covid controls.

The concern persists despite the central government releasing a 20-measure package meant to optimise the country’s tactics.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China last week submitted to the Chinese commerce ministry an array of recommendations to improve the country’s anti-Covid measures, including clear timelines for the roll-out of mRNA vaccinations and antiviral drugs to lay the groundwork for fully reopening the country.

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In Monday’s statement, the US embassy said it was actively working with and helping American citizens who are experiencing challenges tied to the recent rise of Covid-19 infections in China.

The statement, which was published on the US embassy’s website as well as major Chinese social media, has already tallied more than 100,000 views on WeChat – the maximum reported amount. It has also garnered more than 2,700 comments and about 26,000 likes on Weibo, the country’s Twitter-like platform.

“Hope the Americans in China will be safe and healthy, and China and the US should join hands to move forward!” read a comment on Weibo that elicited over 500 likes.

“Please don’t make trouble in China,” wrote another comment that received some 700 likes.

Meanwhile, global investment banking firm Goldman Sachs said it expected a 30 per cent probability of China reopening before the second quarter of next year while adding there was some chance of a “disorderly” exit.

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“The central government may soon need to choose between more lockdowns and more Covid outbreaks,” wrote Hui Shan, the investment bank’s chief China economist, in a note on Sunday.

Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, argued that the likelihood of government leadership changing course and ending its zero-Covid policy in response to the protests was low.

“The authorities will not allow a protest movement to occupy China’s streets for any length of time,” said Williams on Monday. “If the protests continue, a crackdown is very likely.”

“They have no good options in the near term to address protesters’ demands,” he added. “Relaxation of strict Covid-control policies would almost certainly lead to a surge in deaths that would destroy the leadership’s claim to have responded effectively to the pandemic.”