Between December 23, 2021 and January 5, 2022, videos surfaced on various Twitter accounts of the Chinese government's lockdown of the Chinese city of Xi'an, which has a population of 13 million. The lockdown began on December 23, 2021 in response to an outbreak of COVID-19, and is part of China's "dynamic case elimination" policy, also known as a "Zero COVID" policy. According to a Chinese official, the outbreak is of a Delta variant and originated in a December 4, 2021 flight that came from Pakistan. On January 4, 2022, the Chinese government, which is preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Chinese New Year, directed Xi'an to eliminate all cases of COVID in the city.
In one of the videos in this clip, a long convoy of buses can be seen removing residents from Xi'an to be quarantined, apparently in order to meet the government's order that there be zero cases of COVID-19 in the city. In another video, a large crowd of students from the Xi'an Aeronautical Institute can be seen leaving the city on foot with their belongings. A third video shows authorities tying and welding shut doors of homes in Xi'an. Other videos show Xi'an residents being beaten and arrested by police and authorities for violating quarantine.
Man 1: "Shenghecheng, January 2. So many buses... So many people, all being taken away."
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Man 2: "They're busing people away now. The whole village is being bused away. In these buses. The entire village is being bused away."
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Woman: "Right outside of Shiyangnongzhuang entrance. My goodness, look at this side, three rows! My goodness! Oh my god! My goodness! I don't dare to go back to our home community now! My goodness, what's happening in our home community? How on earth can we get back home? It's so scary! My goodness. It's so scary! So scary!"