China to Prosecute 'Unauthorized' Food Sources as Locked-Down Shanghai Goes Hungry

Shanghai government authorities vowed on Sunday to prosecute companies and individuals accused of illegally distributing essential foodstuffs to city residents during Shanghai’s ongoing Chinese coronavirus lockdown, China’s state-run Global Times reported Monday.

Shanghai’s market supervision bureau said on April 24 it suspected several entities had violated “food safety” regulations by illegally obtaining and selling food to local residents since a city-wide lockdown order went into effect on April 5.

“Related authorities will crack down on illegal cases [of alleged ‘food safety’ violations] with zero tolerance, Yin Xin, spokesperson of the Shanghai municipal government, said during Thursday [April 21]’s press briefing, encouraging Shanghai residents to report such problems through the 12315 consumer complaint hotline [sic],” the Global Times relayed on April 25.

“Shanghai’s market supervision departments promised again on Sunday [April 24] to continue to increase supervision, promptly investigate and deal with food safety violations during the community lockdown and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people,” according to the newspaper.

China’s ruling Communist Party ordered all of Shanghai’s nearly 26 million residents to observe stay-at-home orders on April 5 to contain a Chinese coronavirus epidemic. The strict edict forbade Shanghai residents from leaving their homes to buy food at supermarkets. Many residents of the city have been unable to obtain food via other means — such as through online orders or delivery services — and have suffered from food shortages in the three weeks since then.

City-wide food shortages have been partly caused by the Chinese Communist Party’s failure to anticipate logistical bottlenecks that arose as a direct result of business closures mandated by the lockdown. Shanghai Vice Mayor Chen Tong acknowledged this negligence at a press briefing on April 7 and was paraphrased by the Global Times as saying the following:

Shanghai has sufficient reserves of supplies such as rice and meat, and additional food supplies could be transported from other regions when there’s a need.

Supermarkets and vegetable farms can’t operate normally and there has been reduced delivery capacity of e-commerce platforms due to epidemic prevention, leading challenges in distribution and deliveries, Chen said.

Shanghai has established special working groups to ensure daily supplies, with 10 emergency supply warehouses built, and the city has engaged with more than 100 vegetable production bases.

One man recently accused by Shanghai’s government of violating “food safety” regulations seemingly attempted to distribute food to hungry residents of an apartment building for which he served as a security guard. The Communist Party has spun the man’s story from one of apparent goodwill into an alleged crime for which he faces an unspecified punishment.

The Global Times detailed the incident on April 25, writing:

A man surnamed Shang, under investigation in another case, took advantage of the convenience of working as a security guard in a residential community in Yangpu district, purchased a large number of daily necessities under the pretext of “guaranteeing supplies” and sold them at higher prices in the WeChat group of the community.

As of April 20, more than 20 batches of fresh vegetables, fruits and other daily necessities were sold by Shang, making illegal profits of more than 20,000 yuan ($3,100).

Shang is suspected of engaging in business activities without obtaining business certification and is under investigation.

Shanghai’s full-on lockdown began on April 5, though city residents have been subject to movement restrictions since March 28. Officials of China’s ruling Communist Party in charge of Shanghai ordered one-half of the city to lock down for five days at a time each from March 28 to April 5. Shanghai’s government had initially claimed that the partial lockdowns were merely to allow health officials to conduct mass testing for the Chinese coronavirus. Hours before the edict was set to expire on April 5, Shanghai’s municipal government issued a public notice ordering all of the city’s 25 million-plus residents to stay at home indefinitely.

The Communist Party ordered a similar “mass testing” protocol for some of Beijing’s residential districts on April 25. The action prompted many observers to speculate that the Chinese national capital may soon lock down to contain its emerging Chinese coronavirus epidemic.