Beijing: Just weeks before a sensitive leadership meeting in Beijing later this month, Chinese authorities have implemented a travel ban in the country's far-western Xinjiang region to further prevent the spread of the most recent coronavirus outbreak.

Residents are prohibited from leaving the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) unless it is absolutely necessary under the terms of the ban. There are now hardly any trains or buses that travel outside the area, and there are a lot fewer flights than before. Outside of the XUAR, people are not permitted to operate their own vehicles.

The ban follows stringent residential lockdowns in Xinjiang that prevented primarily Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities from leaving their homes to get food and medicine amid the COVID-19 outbreak from occurring in August to September. Some reportedly passed away from untreated illnesses or malnutrition. Now, some of the limitations have been loosened.

Liu Sushe, vice chairman of the XUAR government, stated at a press conference on epidemic prevention and control in Xinjiang on Tuesday that authorities would now "curb the spillover momentum of the epidemic as soon as possible and create a favourable environment for the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China."

The congress is a significant political event that decides China's leadership and upcoming policies. It takes place every five years in Beijing. Authorities across the nation are working to resolve issues, such as the COVID-19 outbreak in Xinjiang, in advance of the occasion in order to prevent them from detracting from this year's congress, which starts on October 16. President Xi Jinping is anticipated to announce his candidacy for an unprecedented third term during the gathering.

The outbreak, which had been successfully contained by the end of August, "saw a rebound" as a result of people becoming lax and measures not being strictly enforced, according to Liu.

The rebound resulted in local spread and spillover to numerous other provinces, making it difficult to control COVID-19 in surrounding provinces and across the nation, he said.

The highly contagious BA.5.2 variant of the virus and the ineffectiveness of control measures, according to Liu, prevented authorities from implementing China's "dynamic zero COVID-19" policy in the area. Liu also cited a lack of testing capacity and staff who handled samples improperly and contracted the virus themselves.

In order to combat what he described as the most serious public health crisis in the history of the far-western region, the vice chairman of XUAR also urged members of all ethnic groups to continue their cooperation with the work being done to prevent and control epidemics.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which is home to 26 million people, including 15 million primarily Muslim Uyghurs and Turkic-speaking minorities, had 1,170 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

On Tuesday, authorities reported that there were 354 locally acquired asymptomatic infections (local asymptomatic infections) and one imported asymptomatic infection, but no new confirmed coronavirus cases in the area.

Highly restrictive control

Many people in Xinjiang expressed their anger over the travel restrictions as well as the recent strict residential lockdowns, which in some cases prevented people from purchasing food or medicine and resulted in some fatalities.

Have they [officials] apologised to the residents of Yining, Kuerle, and Shihezi who have been under lockdown for more than 60 days? enquired a social media user.

Some Uyghurs in lockdown areas have had disinfectant sprayed inside and outside of their homes, making some sick and some dead.

Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU), based in Washington, D.C., expressed worry regarding the complete lockdown in the XUAR and the travel restrictions to and from the area.

Rushan Abbas, executive director of CFU, used the Uyghurs' preferred term for Xinjiang—East Turkestan—in a statement released on Wednesday. "The new restrictions imposed by the CCP against Uyghurs in East Turkestan will only continue to serve the regime's intent of destroying Uyghurs and Turkic peoples," he said. "China must stop its authoritarian lockdowns that have killed Uyghurs and permit independent investigators."

Locking down the entire area is not a proportionate response, according to Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, based in Germany (WUC).

The restrictions "coincide with growing international pressure and scrutiny on China, particularly at the U.N., where an increasing number of governments are taking a strong stance against China's alleged genocidal campaign against the Uyghur people, and the recent report by the OHCHR [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] has made Beijing even more concerned," he said.

The repression in the XUAR "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity," according to the OHCHR report published in late August.

Isa speculated that the recent lockdowns could also be an effort by the Chinese government to maintain a very tight grip on the Uyghur population before the CCP Party Congress.

Without going into further detail, Sawut Mamat, a board member of the Japan Uyghur Association with headquarters in Tokyo and the WUC's Japan representative, suggested the region-wide travel ban is "directly related to the Party Congress."

In the lead-up to the Party Congress, authorities in other parts of China have tightened COVID prevention measures.

For instance, the government of Shenqiu County in Henan Province, central China, started a programme on Monday to reward citizens who alert authorities to anyone who has the coronavirus or has tested positive for it and has a yellow code on their mobile phone. They are entitled to compensation of up to 50,000 yuan ($7,000).

Since there are no confirmed cases in the county, authorities are rewarding people who report other cases, a resident of Henan with the last name Jiang told RFA.

"They would have restricted people from moving around if there were COVID cases," she said. "I believe they are genuinely interested in some cases."

Only two new coronavirus cases were officially reported in Henan province on Monday.According to local sources who spoke to RFA, the Fuyang government in the Anhui province of east China locked down the city without informing the populace. Those arriving in Fuyang are immediately quarantined in expensive hotels that they are responsible for paying for.