In early January 2021, most areas of China were hit by persistent ultra-low temperatures, adding to the energy crunch. While the authorities focus on protecting large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing at the cost of environmental pollution, the vulnerable groups in urban and rural areas are in a worrying situation to survive the winter.
“China is being frozen”
Zhong Dajun, director of Beijing-based Grand Army Think Tank economic consulting firm, told the Voice of America, “This half month of severe cold, at least two major cool downs, the whole freezing through China, China is being speed frozen.”
Temperatures in northern China have plummeted since the New Year due to strong cold air, with continued extremely cold and windy weather on Jan. 6, with many parts of Beijing experiencing ultra-low temperatures of minus 17 degrees Celsius. ABC said the actual temperature in Beijing could reach minus 19.6 degrees Celsius, minus 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest recorded in half a century.
A woman walks through the streets of frigid Beijing. (Jan. 6, 2021)
The Hong Kong Economic Times said a brutal cold snap has hit several areas of Beijing with ultra-low temperatures of minus 17 degrees Celsius, with some areas in Haidian, Chaoyang and Pinggu experiencing morning and evening power outages without warning and sudden disruptions in heating. Residents complained online, with some even saying, “Will I freeze to death?
Meanwhile, temperatures in northern China have dropped by 8-10 degrees Celsius. Shandong Normal University reportedly had a power outage and students attended classes in the dark. Some students reported that “the heating is not hot, the food is cold, and the power is out at night”, and jokingly said “I am a caveman”, while others said “there is no internet, no light, no food, and they think I am running away from home. “.
The early morning temperature in Shanghai on January 8 was minus 7 degrees, the city’s lowest temperature in a century on the same day, many people were freezing in the cold because they had no heating, or no money to turn on the air conditioning for heating.
South of the Yangtze River, there was rare snow and ice. Taiwan media Newtalk said that some townships in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, have recently restricted water, and residents have difficulty even cooking at home, and bathing and going to the toilet have become even more problematic. Local media said the authorities had to lower the pressure and water in order to save electricity because of the weather.
Reassuring the public with a focus on protecting major cities like Beijing
The authorities are focusing on protecting the capital and major cities with electricity and coal as China suffers from widespread cold. An English-language report in the Communist Party’s Global Times said that Beijing will not face the power restrictions seen in Hunan and Jiangxi recently, because 60 percent of Beijing’s electricity is sourced in northern China. The report quoted a source from the Beijing branch of China’s State Grid as saying, “Beijing has plenty of electricity, so residents can use it as they please.
Beijing resident Mr. Xu seemed to share the sentiment, “I do feel that Beijing is not affected, the neighborhood I live in is not, and I have not heard from my friends that the heating in their neighborhoods there is affected, for a big city like Beijing, the heating is not heard to be significantly affected.”
On the other hand, a report published by CNN said that as of 21:00 on January 6, the electricity load of Beijing’s power grid reached 24.51 million kilowatts, refreshing the historical maximum record of 23.56 million kilowatts in summer 2018 and setting another record high, of which heating accounted for 48.2%.
File photo: A worker stands in front of a large chimney of a thermal power plant in Ningbo port, Zhejiang province.
Beijing’s four thermal power plants have all been re-fired to cope with the city’s surging demand for heat, says China’s Caixin Weekly. 2017 saw the Beijing government attempt to “green” the city’s energy plan, but it has since re-fired six times to address the city’s electricity needs, with environmental targets no longer important to ease the power crunch. Environmental targets are no longer important to ease the power crunch.
Ms. Feng, a resident of Chongqing, said that the authorities are keeping the city from boiling over under the cold to prevent public discontent. Chongqing’s electricity supply is still adequate: “Because of the tough character of Chongqing people, the authorities still guarantee the supply, and if we can’t help it, we will go to the street, a little uncomfortable to go to the street, the same as the American character. The government has been adopting a policy of pacification, moving where it dare not move the residents of the big cities.”
The disadvantaged in the bitter cold
What is the situation of the disadvantaged under the severe cold? Ms. Feng told the Voice of America that the situation of the disadvantaged there is more miserable: “There is no heating here in Chongqing in the north, all have to rely on themselves, those who have the conditions, their own homes to turn on the air conditioning for heating, however, there are still people who can not afford to give up. The disadvantaged, the more bottom of the barrel, no conditions, eat low income, no job kind of people, the situation is more miserable.”
Ms. Feng said the weather in Chongqing has been particularly wet and cold recently due to the low temperatures in the north, as this is a zone surrounded by two rivers, she said, “Since New Year’s Day, half of my face is swollen, it’s cold and damp and false fire, plus a cold. Today it’s much better, out in the sun and out of the sun.”
In addition, many urban and rural areas across the country, as well as rural areas, are paying the price for the bitter cold. Beijing resident Mr. Xu said, “Some news I read on the Internet said that some rural areas have taken out their coal stoves, so maybe individual rural areas will be affected.”
Internet media in Hong Kong01 said that some local officials have been “dismantling stoves and sealing beds” for villagers, who are “afraid of freezing”. In Tangshan, several villagers died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and other key areas of the countryside, urban and rural areas to promote “coal to electricity” and other environmental measures due to power shortages affected, resulting in a “ban on coal but not pollution. This extremely cold weather process, rural areas, a large number of emissions of soot, carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, the Chinese land air pollution situation further aggravated.
Experts: China’s lack of electricity is a fact
Beijing electricity consumption hit a record high, the public generally complained about the lack of heating, Zhong Dajun said: “The speed freeze China has brought a considerable amount of electricity consumption, will add another weight to the original economic demand, another demand. In this case I reckon that the problem of electricity shortage is very real and exists”.
Zhong Dajun said, China’s power supply, in addition to coal power generation, there is wind power, solar power, power supply is still able to meet demand, only occasionally there will be some shortages, overload operation, indicating that the management of scheduling is not very in place.
Zhong Dajun said the sudden extremely cold weather has highlighted the problem of electricity tension: “Due to some individual circumstances, suddenly intensified demand, for example, sudden climatic factors, will certainly lead to some fluctuations, however, the power sector is through the ‘peak elimination’ and ‘ strong blocking’ slowly adjusting.”
Zhong Dajun added: “China’s electricity consumption is growing at 8 percent, 9 percent, or at least 7 percent every year. You can see from China’s electricity consumption that China’s economic development is always advancing, because electricity indicators are a big factor in a country’s economy.”
Low-profile handling of the quick-freeze effect
Hong Kong media outlet Economic Times said none of China’s mainland mainstream media reported on the recent power outages in parts of Beijing, except for a number of posts circulating on social media such as microblogs “complaining about the suffering of power outages on cold days.”
North America’s World Journal said that a recent meeting hosted by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed to do a good job of ensuring a safe and stable supply of energy and keeping people warm through the winter, saying that “people’s safety and warmth through the winter is a priority” and that “the warmth of the people is no small matter.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission and other departments recently notified the abolition of unreasonable charges for water supply, power supply, gas supply and heating, and accelerate the improvement of the price formation mechanism.
Asked by foreign media about China’s recent power shortage, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China’s overall power supply is guaranteed and the relevant departments have repeatedly released the power situation to the public in a timely manner. She said that some foreign people and media “do not need to worry about this.
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