![]() That system had some advantages in the early stages of the pandemic, almost three years ago, when the Chinese state’s extensive apparatus of repression gave it far greater means to confine and control the public than most liberal-democratic governments could muster. It is all about politics now-and that’s why it is difficult to discern when, or even if, Beijing will abandon the policy.īeijing’s rigid approach to managing the coronavirus outbreak is a consequence of the country’s authoritarian governance. The zero-COVID policy, a mandate that cases of infection must be kept at or near zero, ceased to be about public health a long time ago. ![]() The reasons China won’t budge from its strict COVID controls lie deep within the workings of the Chinese Communist Party, especially under its current boss, President Xi Jinping. The latest wave of lockdowns has largely confined millions to their homes: Just two of those lockdowns, involving the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu and the tech hub of Shenzhen, affected a combined population roughly equivalent to all of Canada’s. Nothing-neither a sinking economy nor the availability of vaccines and improved treatments nor the country’s growing isolation-has persuaded the leadership to change course. Chinese leaders continue to lock down some of the country’s largest cities, spend millions of dollars on testing, and hunt down individual case after individual case. The world has moved on from the coronavirus pandemic-except for China.
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