Digital censors quickly shut down online discussion after Beijing’s Communist Party secretary said the capital city would normalise pandemic prevention controls over coming years
Digital censors quickly deleted a hashtag “the next five years” on Monday as online discussion swirled in response to reported remarks of Beijing’s Communist Party secretary saying that the capital city will normalise pandemic prevention controls over the course of the next five years.
Students are watched by a security guard on Monday, June 27, as many schools reopened in Beijing for the first time since April.The citywide party congress is held once every five years, ahead of the national level party congress, which is slated for this fall. At the congresses, members generally review the work of the past five years while also announcing goals for the next five years.
Since a surge of cases driven by the Omicron variant in April, China has made mass testing requirements even more frequent. In Beijing, residents are now required to hold a negative test from within the last 72 hours to enter any public venue, including restaurants and offices.