VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Shanghai's 25 million residents have been under lockdown since early April as authorities try to curb an Omicron-fuelled outbreak (Photo: AFP/Hector RETAMAL) - 

A viral video showing the impact of the prolonged coronavirus lockdown on Shanghai's residents has been taken down by China's Internet censors Saturday (Apr 23), triggering an online backlash.

About 25 million residents in Shanghai have been shut in their homes since early April, as officials rush to curb its worst ever outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic.

The city has struggled to provide fresh vegetables and other essentials to those in lockdown, while patients have reported trouble accessing regular medical care as thousands of health staff were deployed to COVID-19 testing and treatment.

The issues were chronicled in a six-minute video titled "Voice of April", which was widely shared on Weibo and WeChat - major social media platforms in China.

Shot against a simple aerial black-and-white view of the city, the video opens with audio clips from media briefings in March where officials say Shanghai will not have a citywide lockdown.

The decision was quickly reversed by April as the highly transmissible Omicron variant led to a spike in infections.

As the camera pans across the empty streets of Shanghai, audio clips are played in chronological order showing the dire situation of residents shunted into their homes without preparation.

"We have gone to the hospital twice, but no one is there to treat us," a man whose father is ill is heard saying.

In another, a woman complains about not being allowed back home when she returned from hospital after chemotherapy.

There is also a clip of residents yelling, "Thank you, Big Whites" - a nickname for health staff dressed in white PPE gear deployed to various nieghbourhoods.

Internet censors battled for hours on Saturday to scrub the video from Weibo and Wechat, as netizens kept uploading it into different cloud services.

The swift censorship of the video - which was posted by an anonymous account - led to an online backlash.

"The video was just presenting raw facts. There is nothing provocative!" said one commentator on Weibo.

"Its content is nothing new ... But the fact of seeing that even that is censored, it bothers me," wrote another.

"Voice of April" is not accessible on any major social media platform in China as of Saturday afternoon, but it can still be viewed on YouTube.

Shanghai reported 23,504 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths on Saturday.

While China's zero-COVID strategy had kept the country relatively infection-free during the pandemic's first two years, the current wave has seen hundreds of millions of people across the country placed under some form of lockdown.

Public criticism against the government is extremely rare, but the prolonged restrictions are testing the patience of the Chinese - with protest footage circulating on social media faster than censors can delete it//CNA

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Ankara, on Friday (April 22, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenlu RI) - 

Turkey voiced strong support for Indonesia's G20 Presidency during a meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers in Ankara on Friday.

At the meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, discussed a wide range of bilateral and global issues, including economic and health cooperation, the war in Ukraine, the G20, and Palestine, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Saturday.

"With Indonesia's G20 Presidency and Turkey's power in MIKTA, we have a strategic role in addressing the challenges facing the world," Marsudi said.

MIKTA is an informal partnership of middle powers comprising Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia.

Regarding the G20, the two foreign ministers agreed on the importance of promoting the grouping’s priority agendas of overcoming the pandemic, building global health resilience, and pushing digital transformation and energy transition.

As the holder of the G20 Presidency, Indonesia will continue to work and foster communication and consultations with all member states. This would allow the G20 to continue to contribute significantly to global pandemic recovery efforts and mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine, she said.

The two foreign ministers agreed to hold a MIKTA meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in July 2022 as well as intensify communication, particularly on the situation in Ukraine and G20 member states.

They also agreed to step up bilateral cooperation in efforts to help the health and economic sectors recover from the impact of the pandemic.

"I hope the Indonesia-Turkey Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to be concluded soon in order to increase cooperation opportunities for the two countries," Marsudi said.

Touching upon the Ukraine crisis, she lauded Turkey's role in encouraging peace negotiations, reiterating the importance of putting an immediate end to the war in Ukraine, and pressing for peaceful ways to achieve solutions to the conflict.

The war in Ukraine has had a significant impact not only on humanity, but also on global food and energy stability.

Therefore, all countries must contribute to creating an environment and conditions conducive to peace, she said.

"Peace is expected to be reached through the negotiation table," she added//ANT

Photo of National Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BNPB's) System and Strategy Deputy Raditya Jati while delivering a press statement on 7th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) in Denpasar, Bali, on Friday (April 22, 2022). ANTARA PHOTO/Fikri Yusuf/wsj/FR - 

The Indonesian government does not implement the special travel system for delegations of the 7th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) held in Bali on May 23-28, 2022.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BNPB's) System and Strategy Deputy, Raditya Jati, noted that this decision is based on the significant decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, especially in Bali.

Indonesia's readiness, as the host of 2022 GPDRR, is also proven by the COVID-19 booster vaccination coverage that surpasses 60 percent, Jati stated during an online press conference on Friday.

Moreover, there are new policies in the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Head Circulation Letter No. 17 of 2022.

Several revisions within the letter include utilization of the PeduliLindungi, Indonesia's entry test, and requirement for international travelers during the post-pandemic period.

"We will not use the bubble system here. This only applies in Bali. While there is testing, it will be held at the event's location," Jati explained.

The entry test for international arrivals will only be imposed on international travelers suspected to have contracted COVID-19.

If they have symptoms related to body temperature, such as a recorded temperature reading of more than 37.5 degrees Celsius, then they will be subject to the PCR test.

"The mechanism for GPDRR's health protocols is then differentiated in accordance with the issuance of the circulation letter, which means there is a little adjustment," he stated.

"The concept that is currently finalized by the Indonesian government and the UN will be implemented later and will be discussed from April 25 to 28," he added.

There will be no special traveling applied to the 2022 GPDRR delegations, but health protocols will still be applied stringently.

This means antigen swab tests will be readied on a daily basis and PCR will be conducted several days before the president arrives//ANT

Youth and Sports Ministry's National Sports Performance Improvement review team head Mochamad Asnawi responding to journalists' inquiries in Jakarta on Friday (April 22, 2022). ANTARA/Shofi Ayudiana - 

Indonesian athletes must not self-fund to compete in the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, as it is the government's responsibility to designate participating athletes and arrange for their embarkation, according to a ministry's official.

"The government has affirmed that athletes funded by their sports federation or funded on their own are not allowed (to depart on their own) as it is the responsibility of the government," Youth and Sports Ministry's National Sports Performance Improvement review team head Mochamad Asnawi stated here on Friday.

Asnawi noted that recommendations from the review team would determine whether athletes will be funded by the government to compete in the SEA Games.

"We could not provide a recommendation (to an athlete) if they have little potential to win a medal in the SEA Games," the official noted.

Earlier, some sports federations decided to continue sending their athletes to compete in the 31st SEA Games despite not having passed the assessment process for having little potential to win a medal.

Rhythmic gymnastics athlete Sutjiati Narendra could not compete in the SEA Games after the review team did not recommend her participation in the games, as they concluded that she has no achievement records in regional and international single or multievent competitions.

The athlete is still not allowed to compete despite insisting that she and her coach are ready to fund their travel on their own to participate in the SEA Games.

Responding to Narendra's grievance, Asnawi clarified that the government does not intend to block athletes from performing in international competitions, yet athletes must pass a certain standard before the authority decides on their participation in the games.

He encouraged athletes not participating in the SEA Games to not to become disheartened and to continue honing their skills to prove their capabilities.

"Do not fret, if they have the capability, the government will certainly facilitate their training. I believe sports federations must also bolster their athletes' training," the official stated//ANT