Ten Days in Xi’an: Episode Five
Episode 5: “The market is always smarter than the government” is an old adage that I can now very much sympathize with, given the current situation here.
Acclaimed, independent journalist Jiang Xue documents the spiral of her city, Xi’an (with a population of more than 13 million residents), into complete lockdown.
5. Our Suggestions
On the morning of December 31, I finally bought my first box of vegetables since the epidemic lockdown began. Speaking of which, actually, I got it through the community’s mutual assistance. I saw the seller’s post in the community’s WeChat group and found that the price was fair: 108 yuan per box, 20 jin (a jin is a little over a pound or half a kilogram) per box. I quickly placed an order, and it was delivered the next day, still very fresh.
A lot of news was revealed on the Internet. The government’s free food was distributed to some communities; netizens tracked this down and found that those communities that claimed to have enough food were all connected to the government. Meanwhile, friends living in Qujiang district began to receive “compassion dishes” from the government and, as a result, many people began to send “positive energy”[1] about the government, praising the government for doing a good job. But in my judgment, even if the government “sends warmth,” it amounts to propaganda because it is extremely hard and even impossible for the government to deliver food to so many people when they need it. The reason is very simple. The market is shut down, and the city’s daily logistics and distribution are suspended. In a big city with 13 million people, is it possible to rely on local government personnel and volunteers to deliver food to your door in a short period of time. Is that possible?
Empty communities and the never-ending quest to access food.
I got the vegetables and asked the seller a few questions. The seller said that the vegetables were delivered from Ningxia, amounting to 5,000 units, but because he couldn’t get a pass, he couldn’t deliver them. As long as the community needs more than 5 units, they were willing to deliver. “The market is always smarter than the government” is an old adage that I can now very much sympathize with, given the current situation here.
The fact is already obvious that the days-long “difficulty in selling vegetables” is a man-made disaster. In Xi’an, there is no shortage of food and other materials, but it is difficult to get them to those who need them most. I have seen many articles published on self-media, including one by the author who goes by the name of Master Beast, who hit the nail on the head, writing: “We have such powerful logistics systems like Tmall and JD, why doesn’t the government use them? Why must the government insist on thinking they are smart enough to deliver food to your door?”
Every day I look at friends’ circles, WeChat groups, and my heart is bombarded with all kinds of information. With the escalation of control measures, bad news comes every day: high-risk pregnant women cannot go to the hospital to prepare for delivery, patients in urgent need of medicine after kidney transplants have nowhere to buy medicine, migrant workers cannot eat at closed construction sites, and postgraduate candidates are stranded on the streets starving … Various secondary disasters caused by epidemic prevention and control occur frequently, and it is not impossible for humanitarian disasters to continue to break out if the lockdown continues.
On December 31st, I chatted with my friends early in the morning to discuss what to do and, with friends such as Suixi, we came up with some ideas. I decided, first, in my capacity as an individual citizen, to send out these suggestions. My post, “Urgent Suggestions of a Xi’an Citizen on Solving the Problem of Difficulty in Eating Vegetables,” mentioned that market order must be gradually restored.
First, the terminal logistics system must be restored so that vegetable vendors, fruit and vegetable stores, supermarkets, etc. can enter the community to provide services, including allowing various life-saving drugs to get into the hands of residents. Moreover, the government must encourage NGOs and other volunteers to join the rescue system, and encourage private self-help, etc.
In the letter, we decided not to sign our name, to avoid getting a label or “hashtag,” and only allow the voices of the citizens to be expressed. But God knows, was there no fear in our heart? One of my friends wrote a few journal entries two days ago, calling for a solution to the “difficulty in selling vegetables” problem. The essay was available online for two days but then I couldn’t find it. A network platform I am familiar with has begun to delete all the “negative” aspects of the Xi’an epidemic…
“Positive energy” has been an important phrase in the Xi Jinping era. It refers to information control and official messaging, both domestically and internationally. The term generally refers to the need for uplifting messages as opposed to critical or negative ones – and particularly the need for content that places the Party and government in a positive light. Although the term began appearing in various contexts in 2012, it was given a much larger profile at the Central Forum on Arts and Literature in October 2013.
See China Media Project, April 16, 2021: https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/positive-energy/.