Xi Jinping's Officials Say Lockdown Suicide Statistics 'Not For Release' Amid Growing Protest Against China's Zero-COVID Policies

The Chinese health ministry said statistics on people committing suicide under Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy of rolling lockdowns “are not for release.”

What Happened: A woman reportedly fretting over Xi's tough COVID policies jumped from the 12th floor of her apartment building under lockdown in Inner Mongolia on Friday, reported Radio Free Asia.

There have been numerous media reports about Chinese people, angered by the strict lockdown, killing themselves and protesting against government policies. 

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On reaching out to the national bureau of statistics for collective data on the number of suicides that have taken place in China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the publication was told by an employee that “We don’t have it in the database, because it’s controlled by the National Health Commission.” 

"It has a great deal of data, and it doesn’t give us all of it," the employee said, adding that detailed cause-of-death statistics are only made public every 10 years at the time of the national census.

The publication then reached out to the National Health Commission, and the person answering the phone said the data on suicides wasn’t available to the public. “This information is for internal use only, and it won’t be easy to come by.”

“We’re not allowed to give it out,” the employee said. 

Xi’s party regards statistics on suicides during the pandemic as a state secret, a former Chinese Red Cross executive Ren Ruihong told the outlet. Any attempt to obtain such information could be regarded as an attempt to lay hands on state secrets, added Ruihong. 

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