The food crisis in Shanghai, China, deepens as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enforces its “zero-COVID” policy.
The closure of dozens of cities owing to breakouts of the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron has hampered the country’s supply networks. As a result, millions of people are facing food shortages.
Since March 28, when CCP officials basically shut down the city to conduct mass testing of residents, Shanghai has been in lockdown. Individuals who tested positive, whether or not they were sick, were quarantined for up to two weeks. When quarantine facilities became overcrowded, many people who tested positive were compelled to stay in their homes or apartment buildings.
Food shipments and delivery have come to a halt due to the lack of economic activity in the city. Residents’ social media posts mention food shortages and trouble getting meals.
“It’s the first time in my life I’ve had to worry about securing food,” one Shanghai-based executive said. “Now, I’m worried we’ll run out of milk for our kids.”
Some residents have posted about bartering for food. One resident, Guan Zejun, posted a picture of an almost-empty box of supplies and begged the government for help. “I’m used to the feeling of being hungry now,” he said. “I never expected that in the 21st century, in a big city like Shanghai, I would experience what my grandparents’ generation lived through, of not being able to fill my stomach.”
Even the wealthiest residents in the global financial center are having difficulty finding groceries. On the social media platform WeChat, one of the city’s top venture capitalists stated that he was looking for bread anywhere he could find it.
Resistance to the CCP measures has developed and Shanghai residents have been filmed screaming out their windows at night in protest. Some have attacked the government medical workers who are conducting mass testing and enforcing quarantine. But the communist party continues to enforce its draconian “zero-COVID” policies with government drones flying through the city telling residents to remain calm and resist their “soul’s desire for freedom.”
