The Chinese Communist Party’s extreme “zero-COVID” policy ended abruptly at the end of 2022 after three years, leading to a significant number of deaths. The authorities stopped releasing burial data, raising suspicions of a cover-up. Over a year after the end of “zero-COVID,” the authorities have still not resumed the publication of burial data. What lies behind this decision?
Various sources indicate that the epidemic is still raging in mainland China, with people falling ill and dying, yet the authorities are censoring the information. What should the Chinese people do in such a situation?
Traditionally, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs would release burial data, including statistics on marriages, divorces, and cremations, within three months of the end of each quarter. However, this practice changed after the massive outbreak of the epidemic at the end of 2022. The Ministry’s data for the fourth quarter of 2022 was not released until June 9, 2023, and did not include burial data.
A check by journalists from Epoch Times on April 16, 2024, of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ official website showed that the latest data available was for the fourth quarter of 2023, with no burial data for the entire year. Similar situations were found on the websites of the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, Hunan Provincial Civil Affairs Department, and Guangdong Provincial Civil Affairs Department. However, the data-related web pages for the Zhejiang, Heilongjiang, and Hainan provinces were inaccessible from overseas.
In December 2022, the sudden end of the three-year “zero-COVID” measures by the Chinese Communist Party, without corresponding protective measures, led to a massive outbreak of the epidemic and a high death toll. Crematoriums and funeral homes across China were overwhelmed, with long queues for cremation services, sometimes requiring a two-week wait. The actual number of deaths has become a deeply buried issue for the authorities.
Chinese issues expert Wang He told Epoch Times on April 16 that after the CCP ended “zero-COVID” at the end of 2022, there was a major outbreak of the epidemic, with an infection rate of eighty to ninety percent and a very high mortality rate. The CCP would never disclose the cremation data to conceal the severity of the situation.
“This is the rogue behavior of a rogue regime. Just like how the CCP has never officially announced the death toll during the Great Famine from 1958 to 1962 (which the CCP refers to as the ‘Three Years of Natural Disasters’). Because the numbers are too shocking, the CCP wants to forever cover them up.”
Wang He also said that the lack of burial data being released indicates that the epidemic in China is still ongoing, with a significant number of deaths.
“There are still a large number of deaths. Even if they make up a number, no one will believe it. Because once they make it up, people will analyze why it was made up, exposing the tricks behind it. In order to avoid this risk, they simply choose to keep quiet. This is the ultimate rogue behavior.”
The Zhejiang Provincial Civil Affairs Department briefly released data on the number of cremated bodies in the first quarter of 2023 on July 13, but it was quickly removed. An article reporting about this data was published and then taken down by mainland Caixin website on July 17 last year.
According to archived data from the website, the Zhejiang Provincial Civil Affairs Department reported 171,000 cremated bodies in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 72,000 bodies (up 72.7%) compared to the same period in 2022. This data suggests that the increase in the number of deaths in one province in a quarter almost matches the total national death toll reported in the entire three-plus years of the epidemic in Beijing, indicating a likely significant underestimate of the true numbers.
On April 15, American virus expert Lin Xiaoxu told Epoch Times that the CCP’s reluctance to resume the publication of burial data could be attributed to at least four reasons:
“Firstly, if the outside world were to clearly see the huge number of deaths and significant population decline from COVID-19 in China, it would mean a substantial reduction in the size of the Chinese market. In the past, the CCP has always used the ‘market in exchange for technology’ to attract foreign investment and obtain technologies, but now that tactic is failing, leading to faster withdrawal of foreign capital. If the economy fails, the CCP’s regime would be unstable.”
Lin Xiaoxu continued, “Secondly, the CCP is afraid that the so-called post-epidemic cremation figures would be much higher than during non-epidemic times, which it cannot explain.”
“It cannot admit that the data was fabricated during the epidemic, nor can it admit that the epidemic has not left China, nor can it admit that it is still concealing the death toll. Having told too many lies, it can no longer cover them up. Therefore, the CCP simply does not report the data, nor does it allow hospitals to conduct tests.”
The third reason is for the CCP to shift blame. Lin Xiaoxu explained, “By not reporting the cremation data, the authorities can attribute the apparent decrease in population to people moving away; the decrease in newborns causing kindergartens to close can be blamed on young people not wanting to have children. This way, the public cannot know the actual situation.”
Lin Xiaoxu said that even if the CCP were to resume publishing cremation data in the future, it would not disclose the actual death toll, let alone the real data on population decline across society. The CCP is currently trying every means to encourage childbirth in the hope of making the demographic data look slightly better.
Lin Xiaoxu further remarked that the CCP’s reluctance to publish burial data has a fourth reason, namely, that it is destroying epidemic-related data. Until all data has been fully destroyed or new fabricated narratives have been created, the CCP will definitely not release data reflecting the number of deaths, such as cremation figures.
In recent times, people from various regions have disclosed that the CCP has ordered hospitals to destroy all data related to the epidemic. A doctor involved in data destruction revealed to Epoch Times on March 10 that this practice started soon after the beginning of 2023 and included erasing records of medical visits, vaccine injections, hospitalizations, symptoms, death certificates, discussions about deaths, medications, and other information, such as police authorization for someone to be cremated due to the epidemic.
As the year 2024 progresses, the COVID-19 epidemic in China continues unabated, while the CCP continues to conceal the severity of the situation and the truth about the death toll. Recently, Epoch Times journalists have seen several posts on social media platforms such as Weibo where netizens share their personal experiences of being infected with COVID-19:
“Wishing for a breakthrough in 2024”: “Bad news, my child has a fever, I tested positive for COVID-19.”
“Green pepper curry with potatoes and chicken”: “Had two bouts of fever from COVID-19 till now, this weak physique is frustrating.”
“Guinea pig car”: “In 2024, I’m still getting infected with COVID-19…”
“Stargazing at midnight”: “Many pharmacies now have lines of people buying medicine, is COVID-19 back?”
“You’re being muffled again”: “Isn’t the emergency room already full?”
“Sagittarius lazy cat”: “Yes, it’s already 2024.”
“A flower’s delicious dumplings”: “There are many elderly lying around now. They were the most protected initially, but after the restrictions were lifted, they were the ones most affected.”
“A chubby pot”: “It’s already April, why are hospitals in Beijing still crowded? Is it true?”
“Handwriting FOU”: “There’s no peak; the individual differences are significant, resulting in a small gap between peak and trough. Immunity is low, leading to various pneumonia infections.”
“Lin Buli”: “Little sweet potato case: COVID-19 couldn’t be detected initially. By the time it was detected, it had turned severe. Diagnosed with respiratory failure, heart failure, large areas of lung opacities…”
“Start by focusing then change”: “Feels like many COVID-19 tests aren’t detecting the virus now.”
“Du Henghua in full bloom”: “It took me three days to test positive this time, and even on the seventh day, I haven’t turned negative yet.”
“A flower’s delicious dumplings”: “It directly entered the lower respiratory tract; someone I knew had to undergo a bronchoscopy before they tested positive.”
“Seaflower enchanting beauty”: “If you’re not tested for COVID-19, there’s no COVID-19.”
During the journalist’s review of Weibo, a post exposing someone’s death from COVID-19 flashed by, but the post was immediately deleted before it could be captured.
Screenshots collected earlier by Epoch Times showed netizens sharing their observations about the number of burials in public cemeteries:
“Forty-one-meter big sword” posted on April 6: “I went back to the village for Tomb Sweeping Festival, hadn’t been back in over two years, found that the county’s public cemetery had expanded quite a bit. According to the staff inside, they are nearly full.”
On April 2, a mainland netizen “Let life be filled with sunshine” said, “As the Qingming Festival approaches, I went to the graveyard, saw a lot of new graves in the public cemetery, and heard that over twenty people died in the neighboring village last year. The village has over eight hundred residents, which is quite alarming. Most of the deceased were in their fifties and sixties, with four or five over eighty years old, three due to accidents, and the rest mostly died suddenly, with causes such as heart attacks and strokes. What’s causing this?”
People from various regions in China have disclosed that sudden deaths have become normal, with some mentioning the death of their relatives due to infection with COVID-19.
Mr. Li from Beijing told NTD Television earlier this month that his mother had a persistent cough and chest pain, likely from COVID-19, but she didn’t go to the hospital as they just considered it a cold. Two of his friends, who were generally healthy, suddenly passed away.
Zhang Xu (alias) from Huadian City, a county-level city in Jilin Province, told Epoch Times that people were constantly passing away in the area, including a 50-year-old friend of his and two funeral home workers. Due to the continuous deaths, the local “yin-yang master” is particularly busy.
The prevailing skepticism suggests that the so-called “influenza,” “mycoplasma,” and this year’s “pertussis” outbreaks are all smokescreens by the CCP to cover up the COVID-19 epidemic.
From publicly available information from mainland China, it is evident that since the beginning of the year, many middle-aged police officers, scholars, doctors, and sports figures have died in quick succession, many of whom were CCP members, most from sudden illnesses, with many causes of death left unspecified. According to incomplete statistics, since the second half of 2023, at least over 40 senior CCP officers have passed away, all being CCP members.
Wang He stated that despite the tight control over data by the CCP, numerous cases of prominent individuals dying nationwide are enough to indicate that the epidemic is indeed happening. A common characteristic among these deceased individuals is their closeness to the CCP, being CCP members or those supporting the CCP, who have become sacrificial lambs. Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, had long ago predicted that the epidemic was targeted at the CCP.
Wang He said, “What is essential for the Chinese people now is to stay safe. Since this epidemic is directed at the CCP, if you want to stay safe, you must disassociate from the CCP. This is not just a personal matter, but a historical tide.”
According to data from the Global Quitting Party Center’s website, as of the time of publishing, the number of people who have “quit the party” (left the CCP, Communist Youth League, or Young Pioneers) has nearly reached 430 million.
(Editor: Li Renhe)#