Luo Diandian, daughter of Chinese war veteran Luo Ruiqing, has criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy, claiming that the rules lack ‘basic scientific thinking’.
Diandian’s father, Luo Ruiqing, served as Chief of the Joint Staff from 1959 to 1965 and led the People’s Liberation Army that invaded India during the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
Ruiqing, despite his contributions, was purged during the ‘Cultural Revolution’ of former President Mao Zedong.
He still remains a respected figure among Chinese citizens, known for his role in building China’s security and police apparatus. He was later reinstated by Mao as well.
The letter went viral on Chinese social media websites and non-mainstream news websites and channels. It also went viral on Telegram.
In the letter, Diandian does not name Xi and addresses the letter to a person named ‘Ma Xiaoli’.
“The dynamic clearing policy obviously violates the basic practice of the ninth edition of the COVID diagnosis and treatment plan formulated by experts. It does not conform to the mutation characteristics of the novel coronavirus, and it lacks basic scientific thinking,” the letter says, according to a report by news agency ANI.
“It makes me feel ashamed and humiliated to think that they, who still have some power in their hands, didn’t even organize a decent “boycott” when they and most people were treated so unfairly,” she said.
She also said that the draconian measures were imposed which ‘resulted in dire living conditions’ exacerbated by police brutality.
“It breaks the common sense that professional problems are handled by experts. The direct use of the party’s system to implement executive orders is to break the routine of the state’s administrative operations,” she said.
The letter, however, is unlikely to deter Xi, who recently silenced senior party leaders by raising their voices against the COVID zero policy since a comfortable entry into his third term – more than any Chinese leader. For – now their main priority.
