China Withholds Cremation Data Amidst Scrapped “Zero Covid” Policy, Raising Concerns of Underreported Deaths
China has decided to withhold crucial national data on cremations that took place at the end of 2022, leaving the world in the dark about the true impact of the wave of Covid-19 infections that swept the country during that period. This move has raised concerns about the accuracy of China’s official death toll, which claims a “major and decisive victory” over the virus. The Ministry of Civil Affairs, for the first time in at least a decade, excluded the fourth-quarter cremation data from its quarterly report, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Traditionally, China released fourth-quarter cremation data, along with other civil affairs data, in the first two months of the following year. However, since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, there has been a slight delay in data releases. This year, the release of cremation data was delayed by an unusually long period of six months after the end of the quarter. Furthermore, several provincial-level regions also chose to withhold the release of cremation services data for the fourth quarter of 2022.
On June 9, the same day the national numbers were released, the civil affairs bureau in Chongqing announced an indefinite suspension of civil affairs data releases, following an instruction from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The bureau also stated that 2023 data would be temporarily withheld and synchronized with the new provisions on data publication in the newly approved ‘Statistical Survey System for Civil Affairs’ by the National Bureau of Statistics.
An analysis by the South China Morning Post reveals that over a dozen provincial-level regions deviated from tradition and excluded cremation figures from public releases. This omission of crucial data has sparked concerns about the accuracy and transparency of China’s reporting on Covid-19 deaths, particularly after the abandonment of the “zero covid” policy.
The decision to withhold cremation data raises questions about the true extent of the pandemic’s impact in China and the effectiveness of the country’s response. As the world continues to grapple with the ongoing global health crisis, the lack of transparency surrounding China’s Covid-19 data only adds to the uncertainty and challenges faced by the international community.
