Translation: What Happened When My Health Code Turned Yellow

by Anne Henochowicz | Nov 26, 2021

China’s “zero-Covid” policy relies heavily on mobile phone apps that display a health code in one of three “traffic light” colors: red, yellow, or green. Users install the apps via WeChat or Alipay, enter their personal, medical and travel information, and the apps generate a color code that informs users whether they are at low risk and can travel freely (green), are at medium risk and need to self-isolate for 7-14 days and be tested (yellow), or are at high risk and need to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days and be tested (red). An individual’s health app color code...

One of the promises of China’s state-led media is that it will provide an African narrative of global events, but this is not entirely true. Instead, what Chinese media organizations provide is a Chinese narrative of African events. This means that Chinese media organizations frame African events to suit Chinese perspectives even when such narratives do not represent an African narrative.”

— Dr. Emeka Umejei, Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Communication Studies, in a CDT interview about his latest book, "Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox"

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Translation: What Happened When My Health Code Turned Yellow

Nov 26, 2021

China’s “zero-Covid” policy relies heavily on mobile phone apps that display a health code in one of three “traffic light” colors: red, yellow, or green. Users install the apps via WeChat or Alipay, enter their personal, medical and travel information, and the apps generate a color code that informs users whether they are at low risk and can travel freely (green), are at medium risk and need to self-isolate for 7-14 days and be tested (yellow), or are at high risk and need to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days and be tested (red). An individual’s health app color code...

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Nov 22, 2021

The following article is reposted from Project Sinopsis, with permission: Hijacking the mainstream: CCP influence agencies and their operations in Italian parliamentary and local politics Summary of findings and recommendations Recent controversy on the overt alignment of some senior Italian politicians with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) talking points has attracted overdue attention, yet failed to expose the broader phenomenon behind it: the party’s centrally-guided efforts to shape policy and public opinion by influencing élite figures across Italy’s political spectrum, an instance of its...

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Translation: What Happened When My Health Code Turned Yellow

Nov 26, 2021

China’s “zero-Covid” policy relies heavily on mobile phone apps that display a health code in one of three “traffic light” colors: red, yellow, or green. Users install the apps via WeChat or Alipay, enter their personal, medical and travel information, and the apps generate a color code that informs users whether they are at low risk and can travel freely (green), are at medium risk and need to self-isolate for 7-14 days and be tested (yellow), or are at high risk and need to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days and be tested (red). An individual’s health app color code...

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Tennis Star Peng Shuai Subjected to Apparent “Forced Reappearance”

Nov 24, 2021

Tennis star Peng Shuai has been “reappeared” in an apparent campaign by Chinese authorities to defuse and undermine the burgeoning #WhereIsPengShuai movement. Peng disappeared from the public eye after accusing a senior Party member of sexual assault on November 2. In response, supporters including Chinese feminists, the Women’s Tennis Association, and many of the world’s most famous tennis stars began speaking out in solidarity with Peng, demanding proof of her safety and freedom from detention and coercion, and an investigation into her accusations against Zhang Gaoli. On November 17,...

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As the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, China continues to adhere to a stringent “zero-COVID” policy, long after many other nations (including Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand) have abandoned their total-containment policies due to the spread of the delta variant and a shift toward long-term coexistence measures. Weary of constant lockdowns, mass testing, forced quarantines and lost wages, Chinese netizens from all walks of life have sought to tell their stories, offer suggestions or weigh in on the debate surrounding COVID policy, only to have their voices censored...

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Tennis star Peng Shuai has been “reappeared” in an apparent campaign by Chinese authorities to defuse and undermine the burgeoning #WhereIsPengShuai movement. Peng disappeared from the public eye after accusing a senior Party member of sexual assault on November 2. In response, supporters including Chinese feminists, the Women’s Tennis Association, and many of the world’s most famous tennis stars began speaking out in solidarity with Peng, demanding proof of her safety and freedom from detention and coercion, and an investigation into her accusations against Zhang Gaoli. On November 17,...

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Translation: What Happened When My Health Code Turned Yellow

Nov 26, 2021

China’s “zero-Covid” policy relies heavily on mobile phone apps that display a health code in one of three “traffic light” colors: red, yellow, or green. Users install the apps via WeChat or Alipay, enter their personal, medical and travel information, and the apps generate a color code that informs users whether they are at low risk and can travel freely (green), are at medium risk and need to self-isolate for 7-14 days and be tested (yellow), or are at high risk and need to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days and be tested (red). An individual’s health app color code...

More Stories

Translation: What Happened When My Health Code Turned Yellow

Nov 26, 2021

China’s “zero-Covid” policy relies heavily on mobile phone apps that display a health code in one of three “traffic light” colors: red, yellow, or green. Users install the apps via WeChat or Alipay, enter their personal, medical and travel information, and the apps generate a color code that informs users whether they are at low risk and can travel freely (green), are at medium risk and need to self-isolate for 7-14 days and be tested (yellow), or are at high risk and need to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days and be tested (red). An individual’s health app color code...

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On November 8, an unofficial holiday celebrating journalists in China, there were renewed calls to release a number of Chinese journalists who have been detained, arrested or imprisoned simply for doing their jobs. China is currently ranked 177th out of 180 countries in the 2021 RSF World Press Freedom Index, with over 120 journalists detained or imprisoned. The U.S. State Department on Monday urged the Chinese government to release Zhang Zhan and expressed “serious concerns about the arbitrary nature of her detention and her mistreatment during it.” An imprisoned citizen journalist whose...

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Translation: What Happened When My Health Code Turned Yellow

Nov 26, 2021

China’s “zero-Covid” policy relies heavily on mobile phone apps that display a health code in one of three “traffic light” colors: red, yellow, or green. Users install the apps via WeChat or Alipay, enter their personal, medical and travel information, and the apps generate a color code that informs users whether they are at low risk and can travel freely (green), are at medium risk and need to self-isolate for 7-14 days and be tested (yellow), or are at high risk and need to self-isolate or quarantine for 14 days and be tested (red). An individual’s health app color code...

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Lockdown Voices: Big-data Glitches, Yellow Health-codes, and “Spatial-temporal Companions”

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As the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, China continues to adhere to a stringent “zero-COVID” policy, long after many other nations (including Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand) have abandoned their total-containment policies due to the spread of the delta variant and a shift toward long-term coexistence measures. Weary of constant lockdowns, mass testing, forced quarantines and lost wages, Chinese netizens from all walks of life have sought to tell their stories, offer suggestions or weigh in on the debate surrounding COVID policy, only to have their voices censored...

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