The Internet abounds with video footage from throughout Europe and Australia of Covid lockdown protests billed by conservative analysts as the onset of the "Reset" and global totalitarianism.
But what has been going on in the vast nation ruled by the Chinese Communist Party where the virus apparently originated?
The 13 million residents of the locked-down, ancient Chinese capital city of Xi'an say they are at risk of starving in their homes after being banned from going outside even to buy food.
The communists running the city instituted harsh new measures after just a few dozen Covid cases were reported. Residents are only allowed out of their homes when invited to take part in a new round of mass testing, or for medical emergencies, the Daily Mail reported on Dec. 29.
There is another way some residents in locked-down cities under the rule of supreme leader Xi Jinping can leave their homes. Those accused of violating Covid rules are dragged out by armed riot police and paraded through the streets.
Images and video from Jingxi city showed four alleged violators of Covid rules forced to wear hazmat suits and carry placards displaying their photos and names. Each suspect is held by two police officers - wearing face shields, masks and hazmat suits - and is surrounded by a circle of police in riot gear, some holding guns, as they are shamed and paraded through the streets.
As Kane on Citizen Free Press put it: China goes full Mao...
"China banned such public shaming of criminal suspects in 2010 after decades of campaigning by human rights activists, but the practice has resurfaced as local governments struggle to enforce the national zero-Covid policy," the Daily Mail noted.
Reports out of China said the four individuals who were paraded through the streets of Jingxi city were also accused of transporting illegal migrants. China's borders remain largely closed due to the pandemic, Guangxi News said. Jingxi is near the Chinese border with Vietnam.
In Xi'an, locked-down residents have turned to social media for help, saying they are "starving" and appealed to neighbors for supplies.
"I'm about to be starved to death," wrote one person on Weibo, China's equivalent of Facebook. "There's no food, my housing compound won't let me out, and I'm about to run out of instant noodles ... please help!"
"I don't want to hear any more about how everything is fine," said another. "So what if supplies are so abundant - they're useless if you don't actually give them to people."
Xi'an has been in lockdown since Dec. 23 when mass testing revealed one case had escaped quarantine and then spread the virus. This month, Xi'an has reported 810 Covid cases.
On Dec. 26, city workers were dispatched to disinfect public spaces with residents warned not to touch anything until the chemicals had time to disperse.
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