As the epidemic continues to spread in Hebei, the pattern of “road closures” such as digging ditches, piling up soil and setting up barricades after the outbreak in Wuhan last year is making a comeback. The Hebei Department of Transportation recently issued a ban on “blocking national and provincial roads and highways by hard isolation.
On January 17, the CPC Hebei Provincial Public Security Department, the CPC Hebei Provincial Transportation Department and the CPC Hebei Provincial health and Wellness Commission jointly issued a notice announcing the “seven prohibitions” on road traffic control during the epidemic prevention and control. Specific content includes, “prohibit hard isolation way to block national and provincial roads, highways”; “any unit and individual shall not take digging ditch, pile of soil, set up roadblocks and other ways to block national and provincial roads, highways”; “has taken hard isolation way to block, to be removed immediately.”
The notice also requires each inspection site to “ensure smooth passage of vehicles from low-risk areas that meet the safety requirements for epidemic prevention” and to ensure the passage of vehicles carrying emergency supplies and livelihood materials, etc.
The above measures show that after the outbreak of the epidemic in Hebei, the closure of cities and roads has seriously affected the transportation of epidemic prevention materials and livelihood supplies. Recently, news of shortage of living materials and medicines due to rising transportation costs and soaring food prices have been reported in many places.
Xue Chi, a scholar on Chinese issues, analyzed the situation, saying that when Hebei entered a state of war on Jan. 5 and many places were closed, the normal order of life and production was disrupted by artificial policies. Accordingly, the authorities urgently need to establish a rapid medical supply system and a rapid supply system of living materials. However, the epidemic broke out in many places in Hebei Province, and there was a shortage of supplies all over the province, so it was common to intercept supplies in the name of epidemic prevention. This is a long-standing problem of the Chinese Communist Party system that has never been solved, and it has become even more prominent in special times.
But Xue Chi believes that the practical effect of this emergency measure by the Hebei authorities has been limited. First of all, he said, although the authorities have taken a measure to prohibit the use of the nationally unified “Emergency Material Transportation Vehicle Permit to and from Hebei” to prohibit the requirement of local permits for emergency material transportation and livelihood protection vehicles, the problem is that there is a saying in the CCP official circles that “the county official is better than the present administrator,” especially in special cases like the epidemic. In particular, the epidemic is a special situation, the order from above may not be taken seriously.
Secondly, the “seven bans” were issued by three functional departments of Hebei Province (the Public Security Department, the Transportation Department and the Health and Wellness Commission), not by the provincial epidemic command, and not jointly by the provincial Party committee and the provincial government, which is not a high level, and the effectiveness is even less.
An earlier video showed that after the outbreak in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, towns and villages in the province were also closed to the public.
The epidemic spreads in Hebei, with villages and roads closed in many places. (Web Photo)
The epidemic spreads in Hebei, with villages and roads closed in many places. (Web Image)
In addition, provinces around Hebei have also cut off or set up barriers to strictly prevent people and cars from entering Hebei. Especially Beijing, to strictly prevent the epidemic in Hebei and other places into Beijing, almost all the highways into Beijing direction were closed, including Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Kunming, Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, etc..
Earlier on the Internet, the villagers’ committee of Lijiabao in Shanxi, the government of Yi’an town, the prevention and control office of Mianshan town, the villagers’ committee of Liangji village and many other areas issued an emergency notice to immediately enter the war time state. In addition to the “closed villages and roads, set up chokepoints”, all return to the state of tension in the New Year of 2020. Strict control of people returning to their hometowns, especially those returning from Hebei.
In addition to Hebei ordered the removal of roadblocks, Shandong authorities also recently issued six measures for the prevention and control of the epidemic, in addition to strict control of large-scale crowd gathering, while strictly prohibit the arbitrary closure of villages and roads.
Shandong Jinan netizen “Nie Wen ……” 17 in microblogging message: “from the hospital back home, several villages are closed roads, helpless to find a small road back home. Then I went to my aunt’s house and found that the road to their village was also closed! Had to find a goat path to cross, and almost scraped the car.”
Even if not in the provinces around Hebei, people in Jiangsu and other places also reported that their village was also closed, and the New Year’s Eve back home was a bust.
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