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I lived in an urban village in China during the 2020 lockdowns and literally overnight the authorities erected 6+ foot high fences around my whole neighborhood.

I lived in an urban village in China during the 2020 lockdowns and literally overnight the authorities erected 6+ foot high fences around my whole neighborhood. Entry and exit to the newly-minted gated community was funneled through two checkpoints that never existed prior to COVID. Authorities were actively patrolling the streets checking ID and ensuring nobody jumped the fence. If an authoritarian government wants to restrict the movements of their population badly enough, they will find a way.

dmix 5y ago
I’ve seen pictures of those barriers. I’ve wondered how China was able to source those materials so quickly. I know China is amazing a manufacturing anything at scale but I can only imagine having the wide deployment of something like chain linked fencing available instead of large barriers. Did they have a stock of them ready?
- alisonatwork 5y ago
  I don't know for certain, but I suspect most jurisdictions in China maintain large amounts of riot control supplies as part of their "public safety" equipment. One thing that struck me in living and traveling in China was the number of emergency supply caches. There are signs pointing them out in parks, metro stations and many other public spaces. In my head I always imagined those store rooms and bunkers to contain things like potable water, blankets, sandbags and so on, but perhaps that's also where they store the barriers and truncheons? Either way, if there's one thing the Chinese government historically does well, it's the logistics behind controlling the movement of over a billion people. That's why the current situation in Shanghai is such an embarrassment - the one thing that everyone trusts the government to be able to do well is failing. I expect they'll get on top of it sooner or later, same as they did in Wuhan 2020, and then the narrative will change, but for now people are feeling pretty upset.

dmix 5y ago

I’ve seen pictures of those barriers. I’ve wondered how China was able to source those materials so quickly. I know China is amazing a manufacturing anything at scale but I can only imagine having the wide deployment of something like chain linked fencing available instead of large barriers. Did they have a stock of them ready?

alisonatwork 5y ago
I don't know for certain, but I suspect most jurisdictions in China maintain large amounts of riot control supplies as part of their "public safety" equipment. One thing that struck me in living and traveling in China was the number of emergency supply caches. There are signs pointing them out in parks, metro stations and many other public spaces. In my head I always imagined those store rooms and bunkers to contain things like potable water, blankets, sandbags and so on, but perhaps that's also where they store the barriers and truncheons? Either way, if there's one thing the Chinese government historically does well, it's the logistics behind controlling the movement of over a billion people. That's why the current situation in Shanghai is such an embarrassment - the one thing that everyone trusts the government to be able to do well is failing. I expect they'll get on top of it sooner or later, same as they did in Wuhan 2020, and then the narrative will change, but for now people are feeling pretty upset.