Headlines: in China, during the epidemic, the repression continues…

Audio 06:34

By: Frédéric Couteau Follow

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This is what Le Monde notes: " Under the cover of the gravity of the coronavirus crisis, the Chinese authorities are strengthening mass surveillance and extending restrictive measures of freedoms, giving the image of an empire that evokes Bigger Brother than that of an ascending power respecting universal rules. (…) The arrest, in recent days, of two prominent figures of the Chinese opposition confirms the fears of many experts, who fear that the regime of Xi Jinping will take advantage of the fear aroused in the population by the contamination of coronavirus to sustainably strengthen control of Chinese society. (…) The contradiction between the recent improvement in figures on the spread of the epidemic and the strengthening of surveillance raises questions about its real objectives , Le Monde still points out . Does it only aim to protect the health of the population, or does it also further limit the freedom of citizens? Will these limitations disappear with the epidemic or will they be integrated into the ordinary system? The multiplication of social media control measures, as well as new warnings for doctors, or courses organized in certain cities of Hubei province, epicenter of the epidemic, to 're-educate' those who dare to leave their homes without authorization certainly does not bode well . "

Beijing nervous

" In Beijing, small quarantine and great propaganda, " adds Liberation . " The regime intends to extol the role of President Xi Jinping in managing the crisis, while silencing critics and expelling journalists. A sign of nervousness within the state apparatus, Beijing (therefore) arrested on February 15 the dissident and academic Xu Zhiyong and placed Xu Zhangrun, a renowned lawyer, in residence in Beijing. By silencing these two opposition voices, the government, says Liberation, intends to impose its truth on the management of the epidemic. Yesterday he also announced the expulsion of three correspondents from the Wall Street Journal . The American daily had published a rostrum deemed "racist" at the beginning of the month. Entitled 'China is the real patient of Asia', it had been written from the United States by an external speaker and criticized the management of the health crisis. (…) According to the club of foreign correspondents in Beijing, this is the first effective expulsion of journalists by China since 1998. After the censorship on social networks and Chinese media, the repression, concludes Liberation , is now targeting Western media accused of being the perpetrators of 'malicious slander' against China. "

Abdelmadjid Tebboune: " I am ready to go further "

To read in Le Figaro , this long interview with the Algerian president…

This is the first interview with Abdelmadjid Tebboune since he took office on December 19. To the question: " Despite your proposals for dialogue, the demonstrations continue. How to establish a lasting appeasement? », He replies:« Although there is still, every Friday, a civic presence in the street, things are starting to calm down. Many Algerians have understood that one cannot reform, repair, restore what has been destroyed for a decade in two months. I was sworn in on December 19 ! But, continues, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, I accept that I am asked to go faster, it proves that people have the hope of change. The Hirak got almost everything he wanted, notes the Algerian president: there was no fifth term or extension of the fourth term, then the president resigned. The most visible heads of the old system are also gone, and the fight has been launched against those who brought the economy to its knees. Remain political reforms, I made it my priority, says Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and I am determined to go far in radical change to break with bad practices, moralize political life, and change the mode of governance. "

Below the belt ...

In the headlines in France, the quarrels of gutter follow each other and look alike ...

With this pass of arms below the belt between the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, and Olivier Faure, the boss of the PS. The Parisian says: " Invited to react to the words of the first secretary of the PS on the 'incredible lightness' of Benjamin Griveaux, the Beauvau tenant let go yesterday on France Inter:' I was surprised to hear Olivier Faure, whom I know well and whom I accompanied in his divorces and his separations. I was amazed at his moral lessons. ' Outcry. 'Lack of mastery, composure and savvy', charges a spawning of the PS. Replica of Olivier Faure, all in formalism. Lectern and tricolor background of the National Assembly, the socialist denounces' a serious fault: the fact, for a Minister of the Interior, to seek to intimidate one of the leaders of the opposition by using innuendos falling under his private life is an attack on the foundations of democracy '. "

" Atmosphere ... " exclaims Le Journal de la Haute-Marne . The Pavlenski poison is slowly spreading throughout the political class. "

“ The invasion of privacy seems to have become the ultimate in current political rhetoric, deplores Le Républicain Lorrain. The disclosure of intimate videos is certainly the lowest point, but it is not the only symptom of the twisted blows, innuendos and manipulations that grow, like weeds, on the soil of the electoral campaign. "

The Union gives it a layer: “ While the Griveaux effervescence was dissolving, Castaner succeeded in reviving it. The same Castaner who had been sentenced in 1995 for having broadcast a porn comic strip on the RPR candidate for the municipal elections in Avignon. The same Castaner immortalized as king of nightclubs. The sequences follow each other and look alike. From blunders to confusion, part of the macronist avant-garde gives the impression of not being in its place. "

Forgotten Idlib

Finally, this reflection by La Croix : “ It has been five days now that public debate in France has been monopolized by the aftermath of the Griveaux affair with its share of ridiculous controversies. There would however be much more urgent to discuss and especially to do. While our politicians scramble on the border between public and private life, several million people suffer a nightmare in the enclave of Idlib, in north-west Syria. Without causing international mobilization. (…) Why ? No doubt, replies La Croix, because among the rebels withdrawn to Idlib, the jihadists occupy a good place. And there is great fear that this crisis will cause a new influx of refugees to Europe. We therefore prefer to look away (…) . "

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