US embassy extends services to make up for Covid lockdown-hit Shanghai consulate

A team in Beijing is helping with a surge in demand in the Shanghai consular district
Some official personnel have left the financial centre, which is into its fourth week of standstill

US-China relations

Phoebe Zhang

Published: 10:00pm, 18 Apr 2022

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The US embassy in Beijing is supplementing consulate services in eastern China after the departure of some of its personnel in Shanghai because of a weeks-long lockdown.

The embassy said on Monday that it had reorganised operations to ensure they could help the affected American citizens.

“We have assembled a team based in Beijing to supplement the surge in demand for urgent citizen services and now have 80 officers working together to support the more than 40,000 American citizens in the Shanghai consular district alone,” the embassy said.

The consular district covers Shanghai and the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

01:35

Police in Shanghai scuffle with residents over Covid-19 quarantine measures

The embassy said it was offering advice to American citizens who were having trouble leaving Shanghai and getting food and medical care in the lockdown.

“For US citizens in Shanghai who wish to depart China, commercial flights remain available but are limited. We are engaged on the issue of airport access for US citizen travellers with confirmed air tickets,” an embassy spokesman said.

The mission suggested that Americans contact the embassy about confirmed flights or other urgent matters, and contact neighbourhood committees for food delivery or bulk orders, warning that deliveries may be delayed and limited.

On April 9, the US Department of State announced voluntary “authorised departure” from China of personnel from the US consulate in Shanghai.

Opinion: Shanghai’s lockdown a defining moment for China’s logistics sector

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian previously said the departures were a US decision, but added that “China’s anti-epidemic policies are science-based and effective, and we are fully confident that Shanghai and other places in China will prevail over the new wave of the epidemic”.

“We are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the US side’s groundless accusation against China’s epidemic response policies, and have lodged solemn representations with the US side,” he said.

Before that, Reuters reported that a US consulate employee pleaded on WeChat for staff to spare some fresh food for US marines, who were down to vacuum-sealed rations at that time. The person made the appeal in an unofficial capacity.

05:59

How Covid shut down Shanghai

Shanghai entered its fourth week of lockdown with restrictions in some neighbourhoods gradually being relaxed. On Monday, the city logged 2,417 confirmed local cases and 19,831 local asymptomatic infections.

During the lockdown, Shanghai residents have complained of food shortages, being denied access to medical services, chaotic management and other inconveniences.

Many resorted to helping each other for food and other urgent needs as the government failed to function.