Wed, Apr 13, 2022 page8

• EDITORIAL: ‘Zero COVID’ madness in China

  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Having loudly trumpeted the supposed superiority of China’s harsh lockdown measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) stubborn refusal to abandon his failed “zero COVID” policy is pushing Chinese society over the edge, which might have ramifications for Taiwan.

  Information filtering out of Shanghai via social media has painted a picture of a dystopian hellscape. Banned from leaving their homes for more than a week and running out of food, footage is circulating on social media of desperate Shanghai residents howling into the night from their high-rise condominiums. The primeval screams of anguish pierce the night sky in a surreal scene among the densely packed skyscrapers.

  The harshness of the Chinese government’s lockdown measures have broken the city’s food delivery and logistics networks. First-hand reports show that residents are forced to rely on paltry government handouts, which sometimes never arrive, while food delivery companies cannot keep up with demand. Other footage shows piles of spoiled food being thrown away as a result of mismanagement and broken logistics chains.

  One widely shared video shows a government drone flying between tower blocks. A soothing female voice issues instructions over the drone’s loudspeaker: “Please comply with COVID-19 restrictions. Control your soul’s desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing.”

  In a novel form of passive protest, one household moved a fridge onto their balcony and flung open its doors to display its white interior and empty shelves. The message is clear: We have nothing to eat.

  Apartment doors are sealed by cadres of the Chinese Communist Party and anyone who opens their front door without permission, breaking the seal, faces arrest. Residents are corralled out of their homes once a day for mandatory COVID-19 testing.

  Footage online shows some people forced onto their knees to take the test by health officials wearing hazmat suits, dubbed “big whites” (dabai, 大白).

  It is widely believed that the “big whites” are not ordinary health officials, but rather members of the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, a paramilitary outfit. “Big whites” have been filmed wantonly beating people in the streets attempting to break free from confinement. One was filmed battering a pet corgi to death with a shovel.

  Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is dispatched to a quarantine center, children are separated from their parents and there are multiple reports of pet dogs and cats left alone being shoved into bags and dumped by the side of the road to be carted off and killed.

  Riots have broken out in some areas of Shanghai as the city’s 25 million residents boil over with anger and frustration. It remains to be seen whether civil unrest will build as the harsh lockdown measures spread to other cities across China.

  Beijing’s rigid imposition of lockdowns is a graphic illustration of the inherent weakness of dictatorships. The paradox of Xi having amassed so much personal power is that he is also uniquely vulnerable. He is now personally responsible for every high-profile policy failure, whether it is the economy, foreign policy or pandemic response.

  The concern for Taiwan is that if the wheels continue to fall off China’s economy and there is significant domestic unrest over Xi’s brutal “zero COVID” policy, he might deem it necessary to create the mother of all distractions from his catastrophic mismanagement ahead of his pitch later this year for a third term as president.

  Taiwan must remain vigilant and prepare for the unexpected.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Missile mass production to commence in Q2: official

  • 2

    Flight disruption was deliberate ploy, experts say

  • 3

    Crowds brave rain for fireworks in Taipei, Auckland

  • 4

    Taiwan lacks cost-effective missile defenses: experts

  • 5

    Air quality to deteriorate nationwide from tomorrow