People are tired of China’s persistent emphasis on “zero-COVID”

• Yu Ting Xu had to wear the wristband at all times as part of the fight against COVID-19.
• There was an electronic monitoring wristband within.
• She is concerned about the Chinese government’s extensive usage of COVID-19-related technologies.

A box was recently left outside the Beijing apartment door belonging to Yu Ting Xu, 34. She was required to wear the wristband at all times as part of the fight against COVID-19 in her residential neighborhood, and there was an electronic monitoring wristband within.

Yu shuffles around in the background as she talks on a video call while sharing her experience. She is holding up the wristband, which resembles a smartwatch but has a flat white plastic surface rather than a display when she turns back to her screen.

She admitted, “I’ve never put it on.

“I’ve tolerated COVID-19 testing, health codes, and lockdowns, but this feels like surveillance just for the purpose of surveillance,” the student said.

The wristband was the deciding factor for Yu, who is one of many civilians who are concerned about the reasons behind the Chinese government’s extensive usage of COVID-19-related technologies.

She told Al Jazeera, “I am worried that the COVID-19 strategy is beginning to be about controlling Chinese people instead of battling COVID-19.

A few days prior to Yu receiving the bracelet, tens of thousands of people in central China had organized a demonstration outside a bank in Zhengzhou using social media.

Since April, many people had been unable to access their bank savings at the city’s Yu Zhou Xin Min Sheng Village Bank, which blamed the issue on “system upgrades”.

The depositors intended to demonstrate in front of the bank’s headquarters after receiving months’ worth of justifications. However, the day before, thousands of depositors discovered that their smartphones were suddenly buzzing and that the health codes on the required COVID-19 apps were changing to red instead of green.

Color changes typically occur after exposure to COVID-19-infected areas or after being identified as having close contact with a COVID-19-positive person, and they signal the need for immediate isolation.

The red codes made people look twice.

The health codes of the family members who traveled to the protest with the numerous depositors were still green, and there had not been a COVID-19 outbreak reported in the province.

The red health codes in Zhengzhou and the electronic wristbands in Beijing have added to the rising skepticism about the government’s intentions, despite Beijing’s claims that technology like the app and bracelet are essential to its zero-COVID policy and its dedication to eradicating the virus.

With growth at its lowest level in decades, youth unemployment at a record 20 percent, and a distorted housing market where thousands of people are refusing to pay mortgages on incomplete homes while a decades-long building frenzy has left upwards of 50 million homes vacant, the zero-COVID strategy is also harming the economy.

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