Posted on Nov 30, 2022
China's lockdown protests and rising COVID leave Xi Jinping with '2 bad options'
129
12
3
5
5
0
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/29/ [login to see] /china-lockdown-protests-xi-jinping-zero-covid-policy
When protests erupted in China over the weekend, a social media post forwarded countless times quoted a former Chinese leader saying, "the people should be allowed to speak and encouraged to care about state affairs."
That leader was Xi Zhongxun, the late father of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Whether the younger Xi will take the advice given in a speech years ago is unclear.
Several days of extraordinary street protests in cities and universities across the country have highlighted with brutal clarity how unpopular China's "dynamic zero COVID" policy has become.
When protests erupted in China over the weekend, a social media post forwarded countless times quoted a former Chinese leader saying, "the people should be allowed to speak and encouraged to care about state affairs."
That leader was Xi Zhongxun, the late father of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Whether the younger Xi will take the advice given in a speech years ago is unclear.
Several days of extraordinary street protests in cities and universities across the country have highlighted with brutal clarity how unpopular China's "dynamic zero COVID" policy has become.
China's lockdown protests and rising COVID leave Xi Jinping with '2 bad options'
Posted from npr.org
Protest
China
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
3
3
0
Xi Jinping doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to quickly follow his father's advice.
(3)
(0)
2
2
0
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."But can Beijing self-correct eventually?
And some see potentially worrying signs about decision-making within the leadership.
Officials admit that "dynamic zero COVID" involves some inconvenience and pain, but argue that dropping it would cause even worse trouble. That doesn't explain why the authorities failed to shift away from it earlier, or make use of the time it bought them to increase vaccination rates and prepare for the eventual reopening of the country.
Gallagher suspects the party's flat-footedness has to do with how Xi has consolidated power and created an environment in which it's become increasingly risky to object to his policy choices.
"The thing that was remarkable about China was the ability for the government to self-correct," she says. "And that's totally lost."
..."But can Beijing self-correct eventually?
And some see potentially worrying signs about decision-making within the leadership.
Officials admit that "dynamic zero COVID" involves some inconvenience and pain, but argue that dropping it would cause even worse trouble. That doesn't explain why the authorities failed to shift away from it earlier, or make use of the time it bought them to increase vaccination rates and prepare for the eventual reopening of the country.
Gallagher suspects the party's flat-footedness has to do with how Xi has consolidated power and created an environment in which it's become increasingly risky to object to his policy choices.
"The thing that was remarkable about China was the ability for the government to self-correct," she says. "And that's totally lost."
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google