Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BEIJING, April 15 (Reuters) – Chinese truck driver Dong Zhigang finished work in the coastal city of Nantong earlier this month and began what should have been a four-hour journey north to his village in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. On Friday, nine sticky days in his taxi later, he had not yet arrived home. Like many Chinese truckers, Dong, 30, has fallen victim to some of the country’s recent crackdown on COVID and unrest as local authorities try to maintain China’s zero CoVID policy. He reached the exit of the highway leading to his village before officials told him that to enter he would need to do 14 days of central quarantine at a cost of at least 240 RMB per day, followed by another seven days of quarantine at home. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “We could not afford it,” the father of two told Reuters, referring to the group of four to five truckers with whom he was waiting. Dong had a negative COVID test that day and had not been to medium or high risk areas. But officials were in no mood for discussion. He said he was told: “I do not care where you came from.” The locals provided the drivers with two packed meals a day, but there were no toilets or showers. On Thursday afternoon, a group of more than a dozen riot police officers, including several SWAT officers, told Dong and his entourage that they had to leave immediately, otherwise they would be fined and lose their driving licenses. Police said they did not care where the drivers went, according to Dong. So the team agreed and moved to another exit higher on the highway. Later, a village official contacted the group and said that they could count the days they had parked on the highway for the 14 days in central quarantine, thus significantly reducing their costs. Dong, desperate to return home to complete the urgent work on the farm, agreed to go and on Friday waited to be quarantined. But at least one member of the group, Wang, told Reuters he would stay in office. Hundreds of toll stations at motorway exits and gas stations have closed across the country this month, according to official figures. “I would drive seven or eight hours without a break,” Dong said. “There was nowhere to get off the highway.” Following a government push earlier this week to open routes, that number has dropped in many areas. However, as of midnight on Thursday, 91 toll booth exits and 44 gas stations in Jiangsu Province remained closed, according to government figures. The Jiangsu government did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters. While COVID-related requirements vary widely across China, many sites have taken increasingly cautious approaches recently. Dong said his order numbers and profits had halved since early March because of the impact of COVID-19 policies he had faced. He has also seen the aftermath of many accidents this month and is concerned that this is related to fatigue. “Once this quarantine is over, I do not want to drive anymore,” he said. “I guess I will stay on the farm.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Martin Quin Pollard. Edited by Hugh Lawson Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
