There has been a noteworthy statement issued by an official WeChat account of Ordos in light of the recent death of a 3-year-old boy in Lanzhou after a late emergency response.
At a local Covid checkpoint, local anti-epidemic staff prevented the father from leaving the ‘high risk area’ with his unconscious son, causing significant delays in medical help for the young boy, who was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Ordos (鄂爾多斯) is a prefecture-level city in Inner Mongolia with approximately 2,1 million inhabitants.
The city published the statement on November 3, when online discussions regarding the Lanzhou case were still ongoing and many expressed worries over people’s health and safety being in danger – especially in times of local lockdowns, stringent zero-Covid measures, and slow emergency response processes.
Here is a full translation of the statement:
“The law enforcement and judicial agencies of the city of Ordos will draw lessons from the problems in epidemic prevention processes that have recently been exposed in different areas across China. From start to end, we insist on putting the people in the first place (人民至上), putting life in the first place (生命至上), and we will resolutely coordinate our city’s epidemic control and protect the people’s lives and health, legitimate rights and interests, and we will take a step further in our unobstructed emergency system, will enhance our emergency response capacity, and we will earnestly defend the lives, property, and safety of people in quarantine.”
“Now we solemnly announce to all of our residents, farmers, and shepherds:”
“In Ordos, no matter when, we will always insist on lives first, saving people first.”
“In Ordos, if you encounter a special emergency during home isolation or centralized quarantine, please call 110 immediately. For non-emergencies, there is the 12345 hotline. For mental health crises, call the 96885 hotline. When isolated masses report something to the police, we will deal with it straight away to provide help and solve problems.”
“In Ordos, if you encounter a situation in which your personal safety is in danger, especially when it is a life-threatening emergency, you have the right to take measures to save yourself and necessity defense* according to the provisions of Article 21 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, Article 182 of the Civil Code and other relevant laws. But please remember: in the case of self-rescue and necessity defence, do not damage the lives of others. After an incident, we will arrange for the relevant departments to review and judge the course of events, and we will provide necessary legal aid and deal with it according to the law.”
“In Ordos, please be rest assured! We will do all we can to ensure your health safety and legitimate rights and interests!”
– Political and Legal Committee of the CPC Ordos Municipal Committee
(*Note: ‘Necessity’ – 紧急避险 in Chinese – may apply in the criminal law when an individual commits a criminal act during an emergency situation in order to prevent a greater harm from happening.)
The statement soon widely circulated on Chinese social media, where it was called a “people-oriented announcement” (#鄂尔多斯回应人性化通告#, #鄂尔多斯通告称无论何时生命至上#).
There were many people who applauded the notification. “Finally, I hear a voice with some humanity,” some Weibo users wrote, with others praising the local authorities for reminding people about their right to defend and save themselves.
Over the past year, there have been numerous examples of people in high-risk areas across China being unable to get emergency medical help due to strict Covid measures and fuzzy procedures.
There have been many screenshots, videos, and also recorded audio conversations circulating online, from Shanghai to Ruzhou and beyond. For example, in September, one young woman from Yili arrived at the hospital by ambulance with her ill grandfather, but found he could not be admitted due to new Health Commission orders. “He’s starting to vomit blood again,” one of the women could be heard crying out in an audio recording: “Don’t you care? There’s blood, he has difficulty breathing, what are you doing?! It doesn’t matter what the Health Commission says, what can we do?”
The authorities in Ordos reportedly purposely sent out this message in light of the problems that came up in other regions and provinces, reminding residents on what to do if they encounter problems assuring that they can trust the government.
“I strongly support Ordos,” some Weibo commenters wrote, praising their “assertive” and “legal” approach to informing residents about their rights.
Some netizens have started to look into the Ordos government, praising local Secretary Xing Zheng (邢征), who is Deputy Secretary of Ordos, as well as the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Secretary of the Kangbashi District Committee.
The 44-year-old Xing has an MA Law degree from the University of Oxford University, and also holds a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Among the people praising Xing Zheng after the Ordos announcement went viral is the lawyer Zhang Xinnian (张新年), who stated that more of these good officials are what the people really need and who applauded Xing and his colleagues for emphasizing what people’s legal rights are.
It’s not the first time Xing Zheng is receiving praise from Chinese netizens. Earlier this year, he turned speeches in a rap video as part of a local government campaign about livestreaming and rural revitalization (#鄂尔多斯市委副书记说唱致辞出圈#).
At the same time, there were also those who emphasized that protecting people’s lives and having a smooth emergency response is just a basic essential in modern-day society.
Ordos reported one new local Covid case on Thursday, with the city currently having a total of 44 people who tested positive for Covid. There was a minor peak of new Covid cases in late October, when the single maximum amount of new daily cases was 27.
By Manya Koetse , with contributions by Miranda Barnes
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