Chinese protest against cuts in medical benefits

Key takeaways: 

• This is the second time Chinese protest in seven days in Wuhan.

Chinese protest took to the roads against cuts to their medical advantages.

They assembled on Wednesday for a second time in Wuhan, where Covid was first seen, and also in the northeastern city of Dalian.

Problems continue as Chinese protest again in 7 days: 

The second round of rallies around seven days stresses President Xi Jinping’s government only weeks before the annual National People’s Congress, which will show in a new leadership team.

Rallies first took place in Wuhan on 8 February after local authorities said they were cutting the level of medical costs which retirees can get back from the administration.

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Social media footage reveals the protesters to be predominantly elderly retirees, who say this comes at a time of skyrocketing healthcare expenses.

Although such health insurance issues are managed at a local level, protests have spread to different areas of the country in what seems to be a renewed faith in the power of demonstrating in China.

At the end of last year, thousands of young Chinese took part in rallies that ultimately forced the state to overturn its rigid zero-Covid measures – people had grown tired of the mass testing and sudden, sweeping lockdowns that had been hitting the economy.

But the sudden change in policy placed China’s medical system under tremendous strain as the coronavirus quickly spread through the nation.

It led to an unknown number of casualties, and reporting by the BBC seemed to show that a vast majority of those who died were aged.

The modifications to health benefits for retirees, which officers have described as reforms, come only as China appears from that brutal Covid wave.
The plan has been sold as a means of trading off rebate levels to raise the scope of coverage to include more sites.

Source – BBC