According to M. Schuman
Protests are spreading all over China. The restrictive policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to contain the spread of COVID-19 has sparked a wave of protests from Xinjiang province to Beijing and Shanghai. And the protesters are already demanding much more than an end to the hard lockdowns; some are also pushing for Xi Jinping to step down and for the party to stop censoring dissent. How will the CCP try to save face—and will its efforts work?
The protests against Xi's COVID-19 policies represent the greatest challenge to his power since he first took control of China a decade ago. At the heart of the problem lies the authoritarian system that the Chinese government is promoting as the optimal form of government. The COVID zero spread policy, while intended to protect public health, was enforced with arbitrary rigor by local officials under their own responsibility. Xi Jinping is left with a nasty choice: relax policy and risk damaging his own political position and possibly allow an uncontrolled outbreak of COVID-19, or take harsh action and, as a result, provoke even more resistance. For now, the leadership is signaling that it will keep COVID zero but will change it to address some of its excesses, but it is not at all clear whether this will satisfy the protesters.
Measures announced so far to mitigate — or “optimize,” as the authorities call it — zero-COVID policies tend to be adjustments to the existing system, such as shortening hard lockdown periods. In all likelihood, the government will have to introduce more fundamental changes to really make a difference. As long as the pandemic strategy relies on arbitrary blockades and business closures, people's lives and livelihoods will continue to be restricted, and public discontent may continue to grow. In addition, as long as the leadership demands that the number of infections remain close to zero, local officials will continue to feel pressure to take all possible steps to suppress the virus.
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