Chinese vice premier Sun Chunlan visited Shanghai in early April 2022 when the city was in COVID-19 lockdown. (Screenshot by The Epoch Times)
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When Sun Chunlan, a vice premier of the Chinese regime, visited Shanghai earlier this week, where tens of millions are under COVID-19 lockdown, she was greeted by residents shouting from their apartment windows: “There is no food left!” and “We are starving to death!”
Sun was accompanied by a swarm of local officials, cameramen, several vans with black tinted windows, and police vehicles. Yet the streets were empty. The residents could only view the envoy from their own apartments. Some were brave enough to shout from their windows or balconies. Someone called out to the officials, “Can you arrange some vegetables to be sent over?”
The officials, however, as seen in a video posted by residents in Jiading district, had no reaction whatsoever as if they did not hear anything.
Sun Chunlan, former head of the United Front Work Department, was appointed vice premier in 2018. Out of the four vice premiers, she is the only female and the oldest one. Since the pandemic, she has been staging high profile visits to COVID-stricken cities. This was not the first time she was shouted at.
Shanghai ‘Must Win the Battle’
Amidst mass testing and draconian lockdowns, Sun went to Shanghai with a stern message from Beijing, “unswervingly adhere to the zero-COVID policy and win the battle against COVID as soon as possible!”
Since the pandemic broke out in 2020, Sun has assumed the unofficial title of “COVID messenger” delivering Beijing’s orders to cities around China.
Sun Chunlan, Chinese regime vice premier and former head of the United Front Work Department. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images)
She went to the northeastern province of Jilin in late March. In Jilin City, residents shouted “we have no veggies!” from apartment buildings.
In mid-December 2021, Sun visited Xi’an city, 12 million population, when it was in lockdown. Sun urged the municipal government to “quickly reach zero cases.” While in Xi’an Gaoxin district, Sun was greeted by residents calling loudly “I want to eat!”
Back in March 2020 when the COVID broke out in Wuhan, Sun went to Wuhan. The residents called out “Fake, fake, it is all fake!” during her visit.
Afterward, the Wuhan residential neighborhood suffered the consequences. The entire neighborhood was in complete lockdown, nobody was allowed to enter or exit.
Shanghai Lockdown Continues
Shanghai has been under lockdown since April 1. On April 4, Sun Chunlan ordered the municipal government to “achieve zero COVID in society at large (excluding quarantine hospitals) as soon as possible.”
According to recent online postings, the municipal government issued a notice saying the lockdown will continue until at least May 1. As for what will happen after May 1, the notice said, it will be decided on May 1 whether to open up or continue the lockdown.
Many neighborhoods in Shanghai are in a chaotic state. Some people can’t get treatment. There is a serious lack of food. Some elderlies died in senior facilities without family members around. Babies are separated from their parents because their COVID-19 test results are different.
Videos also show truckloads of food supplies stuck in the outskirt of the city unable to reach those in need. There are also rotten vegetables and other foods sitting on the sidewalk.
Moreover, at the makeshift quarantine sites, one can see boxes of food piled up in trash dumps.
Kelly Song is a U.S.-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on all things related to China.