"Right now, expats who want to escape #Shanghai typically need consular assistance, approval from community leaders to get extra non-government Covid tests, a registered driver to take them to the airport, and a ticket on a rare flight out." edition.cnn.com/2022/05/12/asi…
"The few people out on the streets were mostly dressed in hazmat suits, police included. Checkpoints lined the route to the airport, and when my driver was stopped, officers spent several minutes inspecting our documents: flight confirmation emails, ...
... negative Covid tests, even a letter from the US Embassy. As we pulled up outside the terminal, I realized there were no other cars or passengers in sight -- and for a fleeting second I feared my flight had been canceled."
"The China I'm leaving bears little resemblance to the one that welcomed me almost three years ago -- but it does remind me of the first major story I covered here."
"Months after arriving, my team was sent to Wuhan in central China after word started spreading about a mystery illness. That was January 21, 2020, and within days the city went into an unprecedented citywide lockdown -- the first of many worldwide."
"In those early days, a brief window of unfiltered truth opened before Chinese censors shut it down. During that time, we spoke with victims' relatives, ...
... who risked their freedoms to express their anger toward government officials they say mishandled and covered up the initial outbreak."
"Reporting in China was notoriously difficult even before Covid, but pandemic restrictions meant that every assignment came with the threat of being trapped in a snap lockdown or forced into quarantine."
"China's battle against Covid coincided with worsening international relations, particularly its ties with the US. American journalists, like me, were slapped with heavy visa restrictions -- visa periods were shorter and multi-entry access was scrapped.
So rather than risk being locked out of China, many of us stayed."
At the check-in desk, passengers left queues of trolleys piled high with luggage as they waited hours for attendants to appear in white hazmat suits to check them in.
By the time I passed customs and security, the sun was setting on the dimly-lit terminal. Other passengers, mostly expats, huddled nearby, waiting to board, sharing similar stories.
"We're leaving after 5 years," one woman said. "We've been here 7 (years)," another passenger responded, pointing out another couple: "They've lived here about a decade."
The folks I spoke with seemed to have reached the same conclusion: the time they had invested in China's financial hub no longer mattered. It was time to pull out, cut your losses.
When I finally settled in my seat --- with entire rows around me empty -- weeks of built-up adrenaline, anxiety and stress began to ease. For the first time perhaps since the start of the outbreak in March,...
... I felt a sense of relief and certainty, though it was tinged with survivor's guilt as the plane took off.
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A Senate candidate in Australia billing himself as a choice for social harmony has a long history of activity with #China's government's main arm of overseas influence, the United Front Work Department. abc.net.au/news/2022-05-1…
Canberra-based Dr Li Fuxin — the founder and principal of a Chinese language school — announced his intent to run for Australia's upper house as an independent in late March.
While he declared he was running on a platform of multiculturalism, education and business, he was less forthcoming about the fact that, in recent years, he has cultivated important ties to #Beijing, mainly through senior positions within provincial arms of the United Front.
From @shenlulushen and @yifanxie: "More than two years of border restrictions and a protracted lockdown of #Shanghai are prompting some Chinese citizens to contemplate emigration, a prospect once unthinkable for many of them." wsj.com/articles/china…
One Shanghai resident was close to securing a coveted Shanghai residency permit. But the citywide lockdown, which has lasted more than six weeks, has shaken her and left her looking for a way out. She is now planning to emigrate to the U.S., where her employer is based.
Another Shanghai resident, Chester Yu, first began forming plans to leave China in early 2020 when the initial outbreak swept across China. “I felt like I was in jail. I could sense where China was heading back then,” he said.
Following Marcos Jr.'s win in the Philippines' presidential election, a lot of discussions have been around how this development might affect Manila's relationship with the US and #China. @che_huai helps to unpack the complexity in an interview. My latest: dw.com/zh/%E5%B0%88%E…
"I think Marcos Jr.'s policy will probably fall somewhere between Duterte's and his predecessor, President Aquino III's. Duterte is a firm believer of being 'pro-China while distancing Manila from the U.S.'
He has a deep-rooted dislike for the United States, and he believes from the bottom of his heart that China is an important partner that can help the Philippines develop."
Breaking: #Taiwan reported 64972 local cases, 41 deaths and 217 cases with moderate or serious symptoms. The number of deaths is the highest since the start of this wave of outbreak. cna.com.tw/news/ahel/2022…
The age of the 41 death cases are between 50 and 90, and 40 of those cases have chronic health issues and 2 have not received any vaccine.
The number of #COVID19 deaths in #Taiwan is gradually growing over the last two days, as the numbers have topped the highest of this outbreak for two days in a row.
A leaked list of thousands of detained #Uyghurs has helped Nursimangul Abdureshid shed some light on the whereabouts of her missing family members, who have disappeared in #China's sweeping crackdown on Xinjiang. france24.com/en/live-news/2…
Abdureshid, who now lives in Turkey, lost contact with her family five years ago. It took until 2020 for the Chinese embassy in Ankara to confirm that her younger brother Memetili, as well as her parents, had been imprisoned for terrorism-related offences.
But a suspected police list leaked to Uyghur activists outside China has located Memetili in a prison outside the city of Aksu, some 600 kilometres (375 miles) from their home.
From @cnmediaproject: "Days before her death on May 4, #Shanghai journalist Tong Weijing was kept busy writing from lockdown for one of the city's leading state-run daily. State media have responded with silence to the tragic news of her passing." chinamediaproject.org/2022/05/12/pas…
"Among the first to report the news of Tong’s death was the WeChat public account “Media Daily” (传媒见闻). In its post on May 5, the account quoted a colleague of Tong’s as saying: ...
... 'Confined for too long [under lockdown], the girl had heart problems the past few days, and perhaps was depressed. Her parents are devastated.'"