Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
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Some residents of the coastal Chinese province are being locked inside their homes while others must present a ‘passport’ to go out every two days for supplies
Weddings and funerals discouraged as ‘unessential’ venues are also shut down
Cured coronavirus patients leave hospital in Hangzhou, one of four cities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang which has adopted draconian quarantine measures for its residents. Photo: Xinhua
In the Chinese coastal province of Zhejiang, some 560km (350 miles) east of where the new coronavirus originated, at least four cities have introduced measures that mirror the draconian rules established by Hubei province – epicentre of the outbreak – to keep the virus from spreading.
Authorities in Zhejiang, which neighbours the port city of Shanghai, have closed “unessential” public venues, banned funerals and weddings, limited the number of times people can go out and quarantined families at home, sometimes by locking them in.
In the Zhejiang cities of Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Taizhou – which have a combined population of more than 30 million – each household is being issued a “passport”, usually a piece of paper that carries one’s name, home address and an official stamp. Only one person per household is permitted to leave their home every two days.
The rules were announced on state media and the governments’ social media accounts, and families have already received their “passports”.
Some people have been locked inside their homes, including Allen Li and his family in Hangzhou. Photo: Handout
To enforce the new travel rules, community officers have been stationed at the entrance of some residential compounds. Every time a resident leaves their compound, an officer at the entrance marks the time and date on the “passport”. People from the same household are then barred from going out again for the next two days.
With 954 coronavirus patients, the province of Zhejiang is the hardest hit region outside Hubei, which has about 19,665 of the more than 28,000 total cases.
Hangzhou, the provincial capital and home to some of China’s biggest tech companies, has reported 151 confirmed cases. The port city of Wenzhou has reported 396 cases.
Yao Gaoyuan, mayor of Wenzhou, said in an interview with CCTV on February 2 that the city had decided to impose the restrictions to contain the spread the coronavirus. “This could reduce the transmission to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
One neighbourhood in Wenzhou introduced a mobile technology system to enforce the stay-at-home rules, according to the state-run Wenzhou Daily, with residents using their phones to scan a QR code at the checkpoints every time they leave the compound. Only those who have not been out for two days will be allowed through.
In Hangzhou, the government on Tuesday banned all weddings and demanded that funerals, which traditionally involve family gatherings and banquets, be held frugally.
All public venues deemed “unessential” were ordered to close. Underground train services are running at 30-minute intervals. Factories need special permission to resume work during the extended Lunar New Year holiday.
Some families have also been confined to their homes because they have travelled to places with large numbers of confirmed cases.
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Allen Li, 26, who is now living with his parents in Hangzhou, said the family had been told to stay home for 14 days after they returned from Wenzhou.
Community workers put up a sign saying “quarantined at home, no visitors allowed” on their door. On Wednesday, they locked the flat with a metal chain from the outside despite the family’s protest.
“We argued with them, but they said it’s a decision from above,” Li said. “We understand we should not go out. But this is not humane. What if there’s a fire at our home at midnight, and we can’t get anyone to unlock it?”
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Some social media users have applauded such measures as ways to contain the virus, but others have criticised the quarantine as essentially “house arrest”.
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Some Hangzhou residents have complained online that they were barred from entering their rented homes after having spent the Lunar New Year holiday elsewhere.
The coronavirus was first reported in December in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei that has been sealed off since January 23.
In a sign of the rising fear of contagion, regional authorities across China have imposed travel restrictions on residents that mirror the draconian measures in Hubei province.
But officials said about 5 million people had already travelled out of the city during the Lunar New Year travel season, contributing to the spread of the virus to other Chinese provinces and at least 24 countries.
India has formally divided the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two new federally-administered territories.
In the new arrangement, Jammu and Kashmir is one territory, and Ladakh, which borders China, is separate.
The two new union territories are now ruled directly from the capital Delhi.
It’s part of a controversial move announced in August to tighten the Indian government’s control over the part of Kashmir it administers.
R K Mathur and Girish Chandra Murmu were sworn in as lieutenant governors of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir respectively on Thursday.
“Now the real participation of co-operative federalism will be seen. New highways, new railway lines, new schools, new hospitals will take the development of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to new heights,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a public rally in the western state of Gujarat.
Union territories have far less autonomy from the federal government than states do.
The former state has long been one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints and is a highly militarised area.
India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it.
How does this affect the people there?
Almost 98% of the state’s population will be in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, comprising two regions – the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, which has about eight million people, and the Hindu-majority Jammu, which has about six million.
The third region, the newly created union territory of Ladakh, is a high-altitude desert inhabited by 300,000 people, with almost equal numbers of Muslims and Buddhists.
Workers from the previous state government will continue to retain their jobs in the new territories, the government said.
What’s the background?
On 5 August, the government revoked Kashmir’s special status, sparking protests in the Muslim-majority valley.
Article 370, as the constitutional provision guaranteeing special status was known, allowed the region a certain amount of autonomy, including special privileges in property ownership, education and jobs. This provision had underpinned India’s often fraught relationship with Kashmir.
Before the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government announced its decision to scrap the special status, it put the region under lockdown – mobile phone networks, landlines and the internet were cut off; and regional political leaders were placed under house arrest.
Media caption The children being ‘tortured’ in Kashmir
The region also witnessed protests where security forces often clashed with civilians. Thousands of activists and others were believed to have been picked up from their homes in the days that followed the surprise move.
Almost three months later, the situation is still far from normal.
On Tuesday, militants killed five migrant labourers in Kulgam district. Just a day before, a truck driver from outside the region was killed in Anantnag district.
Earlier this month, the Indian government restored mobile services 72 days after they were suspended.
But internet services continue to be suspended and most businesses remain closed – some in protest against the government, and others for fear of reprisals from militants opposed to Indian rule.
Image copyright AFPImage caption India has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Indian-administered Kashmir in recent days
India’s government has revoked part of the constitution that gives Indian-administered Kashmir special status, in an unprecedented move likely to spark unrest.
Article 370 is sensitive because it is what guarantees significant autonomy for the Muslim-majority state.
There has been a long-running insurgency on the Indian side.
Nuclear powers India and Pakistan have fought two wars and a limited conflict over Kashmir since 1947.
The BBC’s Geeta Pandey in Delhi says that for many Kashmiris, Article 370 was the main justification for being a part of India and by revoking it, the BJP has irrevocably changed Delhi’s relationship with the region.
Pakistan condemned India’s decision to revoke the special status of its part of Kashmir as illegal, saying it would “exercise all possible options” to counter it.
“India is playing a dangerous game which will have serious consequences for regional peace and stability,” said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
But an Indian government source said there was no external implication as the Line of Control, the de facto border, and boundaries of Kashmir had not been altered.
Why are there tensions over Kashmir?
During the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, some expected Jammu and Kashmir, like other Muslim-majority regions, to go to Pakistan.
But the ruler of the princely state, who had initially wanted Jammu and Kashmir to become independent, joined India in return for help against an invasion of tribesmen from Pakistan.
War broke out between India and Pakistan, and Kashmir effectively became partitioned.
The region, which remains one of the most militarised zones in the world, has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than six decades.
Atmosphere of fear
By Aamir Peerzada, BBC News, Srinagar
By the time we woke up this morning, the internet was gone and we now have no mobile connectivity.
If people step out of their homes, they see paramilitary forces on every street. Almost every major road is shut – we are hearing that more troops are being deployed.
No-one knows what is happening in other parts of the state – we can’t talk to anyone else.
People are concerned – they don’t know what is happening, they don’t know what is going to happen.
It’s an atmosphere of fear. People are scared to come out, they have stockpiled food for months.
Kashmiris have always been willing to defend the state’s special status. It looks like a long road ahead, and no-one knows what’s next.
What is Article 370?
In 1949, a special provision was added to India’s constitution providing autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.
Article 370 allows the state to have its own constitution, a separate flag and independence over all matters except foreign affairs, defence and communications.
Another provision later added under Article 370 – 35A – gives special privileges to permanent residents, including state government jobs and the exclusive right to own property in the state.
It is seen as protecting the state’s distinct demographic character as the only Muslim-majority state in India.
So why is India’s move controversial?
The move by the Hindu nationalist BJP government prompted outrage in parliament, and some legal experts have called it an attack on the constitution.
Critics fear the move is designed to change the demographic make-up of India-administered Kashmir – by giving people from the rest of the country to right to acquire property and settle there permanently.
“They just want to occupy our land and want to make this Muslim-majority state like any other state and reduce us to a minority and disempower us totally.”
She added Article 370 was not given to the people of the state as a “gift”, but “a matter of constitutional guarantees given by the very same Indian parliament to the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Why is the government doing this?
The ruling BJP made revoking Article 370 part of the party’s 2019 election manifesto – and it won a landslide victory earlier this year.
It has argued that Article 370 has prevented the region’s development and its integration with India.
Image copyright REUTERSImage caption Supporters of India’s ruling BJP have been celebrating the move
An Indian government source said on Monday that the region’s special status had discouraged outside investment and affected its economy, while terrorism and smuggling were rife.
“A set of anachronistic provisions were not allowing the progress of Kashmir,” the source said. “The huge sum of money and resources which were going into the state were not being optimised.”
How did the government make the change?
India’s government announced a presidential order revoking all of Article 370 apart from one clause which says that the state is an integral part of India.
The order was met by massive protests from the opposition – but has now been signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The government also proposed dividing the state into two regions ruled by the central government, and a bill to that effect passed the upper house on Monday and will now go to the lower house where the BJP has a majority.
Image copyright REUTERSImage caption Opponents of the move have also been out in the streets of Delhi
Changing Article 370 also requires the assent of the state government, but Jammu and Kashmir has been under the rule of a governor since June 2018 when the BJP pulled out of a state government coalition with the regional People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
This effectively means the state has been ruled directly by Delhi through a governor, who has agreed to the bills.
What has been happening in Kashmir?
Indian-administered Kashmir is in a state of lockdown.
Curfew-like conditions have been imposed, and orders preventing the assembly of more than four people have been introduced.
Tens of thousands of Indian troops were deployed to the region ahead of Monday’s announcement and tourists were told to leave under warnings of a terror threat.
Media caption In December Yogita Limaye examined why there had been a rise in violence in Kashmir
In the hours before Monday’s announcement, two of the state’s former chief ministers – Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti – were placed under house arrest.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 