Covid-19: Violent protests hit iPhone plant in China
It’s the latest case of anti-Covid protest as resentment over restrictions is boiling over even as Chinese authorities battle a nationwide outbreak
BEIJING: Violent clashes erupted between workers and security personnel at the world’s largest iPhone factory in central China’s Zhengzhou city early on Wednesday with employees living under tough Covid-19 restrictions for weeks breaking barricades and rushing out of the premises.
Workers at the Foxconn Technology Group plant, which makes Apple iPhones and which has been roiled by Covid-10, streamed out of dormitories in the early hours of Wednesday to confront security personnel and hazmat-suit wearing health workers, widely circulated footage on Twitter and temporarily on Chinese social media showed.
Wednesday’s clash was the latest case of anti-Covid protest in China where resentment over restrictions is boiling over even as authorities battle a countrywide outbreak, dampening economic recovery and slowing an exit from the country’s controversial “zero-Covid” strategy. The national health commission on Wednesday reported 29,157 infections nationwide for Tuesday with the southern city of Guangzhou and southwestern Chongqing city logging more than half the number.
Dubbed “iPhone city”, the plant in Zhengzhou has been operating in a “closed loop” bubble for several weeks amid complaints that wages have not been paid regularly and workers have not been allowed to leave the premises. The footage showed bloodied and agitated workers in groups raising slogans with some engaging in heated arguments with the plant’s security while others forced their way past barricades. Some used fire extinguishers to confront the security personnel.
“Onlookers yelled “fight, fight!” as throngs of people forced their way past barricades. At one point, several surrounded an occupied police car and began rocking the vehicle while screaming incoherently,” Bloomberg said in a report on Wednesday.
Chinese riot police were deployed around the factory on Wednesday. The footage, comprising long videos and still photographs, could not be independently verified.
IMF urges China to recalibrate strategy
Chinese cities like Beijing and Sanya imposed more curbs on Wednesday to rein in rising cases, adding to investor worries about the economy.
The measures are darkening the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy and dampening hopes that China would significantly ease its outlier Covid stance any time soon, as China faces its first winter battling the highly contagious Omicron variant.
“While there is little prospect of the authorities opting to step back from the zero-Covid policy during the winter, there is a significant risk that containment efforts fail,” analysts at Capital Economics wrote.
Such a failure could result in more lockdowns which would cause unprecedented damage to the economy, they said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged China to further recalibrate its Covid-19 strategy and boost vaccination rates.
“Although the zero-Covid strategy has become nimbler over time, the combination of more contagious Covid variants and persistent gaps in vaccinations have led to the need for more frequent lockdowns, weighing on consumption and private investment,” IMF official Gita Gopinath said.