Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.
The highlights this week: COVID-19 spreads rapidly in Beijing and beyond after China lifts restrictive policies, militants strike a hotel popular with Chinese workers in Kabul, and after a period of relative calm, Chinese and Indian soldiers clash on their disputed border.
If you would like to receive China Brief in your inbox every Wednesday, please sign up here.
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.
The highlights this week: COVID-19 spreads rapidly in Beijing and beyond after China lifts restrictive policies, militants strike a hotel popular with Chinese workers in Kabul, and after a period of relative calm, Chinese and Indian soldiers clash on their disputed border.
If you would like to receive China Brief in your inbox every Wednesday, please sign up here.
COVID-19 Crisis Goes From Zero to 100
Just one week after China effectively ended its zero-COVID policy, the virus has spread rapidly throughout Beijing and other major cities. People have shared their positive test results in droves online, while some offices are reporting that 90 percent of their staff are sick. Yet Chinese media has barely touched upon the growing COVID-19 wave.
On the Chinese evening news, COVID-19 is relegated to a brief clip assuring that everything is under control. Outbreaks are acknowledged only in terms of the scale of the government response. The new state language speaks in terms of personal health responsibility; after years of claiming credit for zero-COVID, the government doesn’t want to be saddled with the responsibility of its failure. The new line? “Be the first person responsible for your own health.”
Ironically, Beijingers are now keeping their COVID-19 mitigation measures in place as the government lifts them. The city’s streets and malls are quiet, and grocery shelves are emptying out as residents hunker down out of fear of infection.
Chi …