“There is a saying circulating in China recently that when 25 million Shanghainese were called out to undergo a mandatory PCR test, the government was not checking whether the new coronavirus was negative or positive, but whether the citizens were bloody or not. Slavery.” Mr. Akio Yaita, director of the Taipei branch of Japan’s Sankei Shimbun, reported on his Facebook fan page on April 20.
If you compare Mr. Yaita’s statement with the real life of Shanghai people declared by CCTV, the most authoritative party media of the Communist Party of China, on April 14, it is extremely ironic and helpless. The party media’s headline on the TV news “”Dynamic reset” is not the pursuit of “zero infection”, insisting to win. The content of the news report is as follows: Ensuring the safety and health of the people is a major task of our party’s governance of the country. For more than two years, we have successfully dealt with multiple rounds of epidemics, large and small, and we were able to quickly control the delta mutation epidemic by insisting on “scientific accuracy and dynamic clearing”. Every deployment reflects the concept of people first and life first; every arrangement is dedicated to protecting the safety and health of the people.
Akio Yaita, director of the Taipei branch of the Sankei Shimbun. Photo: Taken from Yaita Akio’s Facebook page (file photo)
Are Shanghai citizens blood or servility in their genes?
If we compare the situation in Hong Kong, the young people of Hong Kong are struggling to resist tyranny with the flesh, but they are still smashed and knocked down by waves of strong repression, then the people of Shanghai are now resorting to the policy of clearing the epidemic situation to enforce military control and lead to food shortages. The situation of starvation and helplessness, and even the lyrics of the Chinese national anthem have to be listed as sensitive words that are blocked on the Internet.
How could a simple lockdown order crippling the most dazzling Oriental Pearl in Shanghai?
But the most tragic thing is not just the dismantling and collapse of a city in Shanghai. In fact, the number of Chinese cities that are being closed down one after another is increasing day by day.
「New York Times“The report on April 20 pointed out that Shanghai, the richest and most advanced metropolis in China, was easily defeated by the spread of the new coronavirus Omikron variant, so it fell into a weeks-long lockdown and lost its vitality and was hit hard. Afterwards, officials across the country had good reasons to take action ahead of time, even if they didn’t give people time to prepare. According to the CCP’s more open and frank “CaixinThe magazine reported on April 18 that there are still more than 20 large and small cities in China that are under lockdown or strict restrictions on movement.
On April 16, the British media “The Economist” published an article titled “The Economist”What did China do wrong?” discusses the three major problems facing China: “The epidemic is one of the three major problems China faces this year. The other two are that the economic development is not as expected, and the war in Ukraine.” The article clearly marks that this is “China The most dangerous year ever!”
The chaos of Shanghai’s closure of the city is full of chaos, but China has repeatedly adhered to the “dynamic clearing” policy. Figure: flipping Twitter (file photo)
The Economist: Authoritarian countries can do things right, but hate to admit they are wrong.
The article states: “You might think that the three are unrelated, but China’s response to all three has the same roots: pretentious and arrogant people in front of others, total control of people’s backs, and policy outcomes that always make people Doubtful.” And the article also harshly criticized: “China’s actions do not demonstrate far-sighted governance, but demonstrate the difficulty of an autocratic system under Xi Jinping to correct policies or to admit when it goes wrong.”
However, in addition to strong criticism, the article also reminds the world that China’s strength should not be underestimated. Centralized management allows them to focus vast resources on strategic work, from building a solid navy to dominating the battery industry. The government can also control and incite all public opinion. In addition, China’s domestic market is very large, and companies can enjoy the benefits of economies of scale even if they do not go abroad. The abundant profit opportunities will inevitably continue to lure global companies to invest, and to pursue the support of the mercantilist government.
Yet even if the author is optimistic about China’s prospects, he concludes: “Despite these advantages, the Chinese governance system is starting to show new flaws as power becomes more concentrated. An authoritarian state can do things right, But I hate admitting mistakes.”
Various Western media experts have analyzed and commented on Xi Jinping’s crazy actions in the past two years, but they still seem to think that mountains are not mountains. They were wrong in the prediction of the Hong Kong issue; they were more like seeing flowers in the fog with regard to the ongoing Shanghai naval control and closure of the city, as well as its many measures of why it is so ruthless and cruel to the people of their own country.
Xi Jinping insists: the epidemic situation is cleared and normalized
Let’s go back and look at what Xi Jinping said just last week when he went to Sanya, Hainan, to put “Dynamic clear normalization”, and gave instructions “to overcome paralysis, war weariness, luck, and relaxation.” In other words, the closure of the city should be regarded as commonplace.
As for Shanghai, which is currently under lockdown, the actual epidemic data disclosed is not as serious and tense as the CCP said. However, why does the CCP have to take a punitive action to sanction the people of Shanghai? It is puzzling, and many people have to ask a big question: What are the CCP’s goals and plans for closing the city?
The current affairs strategy columnist, Mr. Chow, published a wonderful article in August last year “Not crazy, China is just entering a wartime economy“. At the time he wrote lightly:
Xi Jinping is not crazy, but rational. In the second half of 2021,Only by pushing the overall Chinese economy into a state of “wartime economy” and social management into a “wartime society” can we kill several birds with one stone: remove political enemies, cover up public grievances, and concentrate power.The thinking mode of wartime economy is absolutely short-term, don’t talk about 30, 50 years, not even three or five years. When power collapses, everything collapses. Who cares if Masayoshi Son loses $100 billion, and Morgan and Goldman Sachs lose tens of billions. Haven’t you earned enough from me in the past? If you cooperate with me, I will pay you back in the future; if you don’t, you deserve it.
Not long ago, on April 12, Mr. Category published a sequel “China’s Economy and Taiwan after the Cultural Revolution 2.0he further stated:
……Closing the city to zero is politically a one-shot, three birds with one stone, and the effects are roughly as follows: (1) Prove that no one dares to challenge Xi Jinping’s line of epidemic prevention, even if the line is wrong; a deer is a horse, and a deer is a horse and a million people Silence of people can prove that authority is seamless; (2) As stated in “There is no madness, China is just entering a wartime economy”, Xi Jinping deliberately adjusted China’s national economic machine to a wartime state through the seemingly crazy economic restraint. , to prepare for a U.S.-China war that he thinks is very likely to happen, which of course also includes the option of taking action against Taiwan; (3)Use the epidemic as an excuse to conduct a nationwide “hunger drill” to lower all people’s expectations of life, because China’s economic engine is in the process of shutting down.
Someone asked, when can it be cleared? This is a virus not related issue. Under the political need, the line of rolling closures and clearing the city will be maintained at least until the end of the year at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping is successfully re-elected to the throne; wherever there are political enemies, they will be banned, and where the people have two hearts, they will be banned.
The world is in chaos, the situation is very good, and the 20 major re-elections are coming
The CCP’s political beliefs have always followed a supreme dogma: when the world is in great chaos, the situation is great; on July 8, 1966, Mao Zedong mentioned in his letter to Jiang Qing: “From the great chaos in the world, we can achieve great governance in the world.” Similar words have been said, such as: “The situation at home and abroad is very good, only when the world is in chaos can the world be governed”; “When the world is in great chaos, the situation is good, when the enemy is in chaos, you train yourself, and then you can achieve great governance in the world” and so on. The premise of this philosophy of struggle is, how can the world be in chaos? Of course, it is to incite the masses to fight against the masses. Mao’s conclusion was more blunt: “The future is bright, but the road is tortuous.”
As far as Xi Jinping is concerned, the highest political goal at present is nothing more than his re-election effort to pass the 20th National Congress with ease.
Xi supported Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, so naturally the world is in chaos, and the world’s attention will naturally focus on this battlefield. At this time, who cares whether Xi Jinping is re-elected or not? It is best to fight this invasion war until the “Top 20” has come to a complete conclusion, and then he will also fulfill his dream of re-election. However, the Western world still wants to ask Xi Jinping to help mediate the war between Ukraine and Russia, which is simply scheming with a tiger.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). Figure: Reprinted from China News Agency (file photo)
On April 13, U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen addressed the Atlantic Councilimportant speechAt the time, he issued a stern warning to Beijing. Yellen said, “China has confirmed a special relationship with Russia,” and “I fervently hope that China can use this relationship to have a positive impact and help end the war in Ukraine.” The U.S. Treasury Secretary’s sharpest remarks on China since then revealed that she actually doesn’t understand Xi Jinping’s thoughts. To put it bluntly, the finance minister of the western world really does not understand what Xi Jinping is thinking at the moment.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen. Photo: Dazhi Image/Associated Press (file photo)
Implement Xi Jinping’s will: wherever the party points, hit wherever!
As for the inside of China, the “epidemic”, no matter how good or bad, happens to be a medium that can be used to fan the air and provoke mass struggle. The fiercer the mass struggle, the less attention or discussion of his re-election issue. And as long as the target of the struggle is properly guided, it is enough to direct the spearhead of the struggle to any anti-Xi political enemy.
Don’t forget, the Red Guards commanded by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution did just that.
This will understand the basic principle of why Xi Jinping always likes to order: “Wherever the party points, hit wherever.”
Now, Xi shouted again, “Dynamic clear normalization”, we will soon see at least hundreds of cities declaring “closed cities” in line with this policy.
On April 17, someone took the lead in making a statement. Guangxi held a plenary meeting of the party committee of the autonomous region, and voted to determine the candidates for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. “Always support the leader, defend the leader, and follow the leader” in the official conference draft released on the same day. Such loyal and flattering words of the Cultural Revolution make people feel like returning to the history of Chairman Mao’s era. Another source pointed out that Zhejiang’s provincial party committee has also made a follow-up attitude.
I still recall that Lin Biao, the former leader of the Communist Party of China, wrote an inscription for “Chairman Mao’s Quotations” not long before he defected. A big historical joke.
However, according to the traditional practice of the CCP, it can be expected that soon there will be a jubilant picture of “supported by the whole people, and the people will be seen by the people”, which will inevitably appear every year in Taiwan’s past Chiang Kai-shek’s party-state era!
Former CCP leader Mao Zedong. Figure: Retrieved from the komicole website (file photo)
Can Xi Jinping decree like Zhu Yuanzhang: The sun is not allowed to go down?
By the way, a bullshit story. It is said that the costume drama “Zhu Yuanzhang” directed by Feng Xiaoning in 2006 arranged a scene. The play is that on the dying day of Zhu Yuanzhang’s death, he spent a day in the sun outside the palace until sunset. He really didn’t want to enter the dark night, so he ordered his courtiers to “stop the sun”. The courtiers gradually passed the decree, all the way to the guards on the tower. Finally, the courtier reported that “the sun has stopped”. Zhu Yuanzhang asked, where did it stop? The courtier replied, “On Qixia Mountain. Zhu Yuanzhang said that the sunrise is purple and the sunset is Qixia, okay. After he finished speaking, Yu Ruyi, which was clenched in his hand, slipped to the ground, and the holy life wailed.
If the reckless youth protests in Hong Kong, the “Pearl of the Orient”, can be quelled by the bloody suppression of the black police, how can Shanghai, another “Pearl of the Orient”, not be beaten up under the military control of the whole city? ? And when Shanghai, the capital of goodness, has also become a city of slaves and obedience, Xi Jinping’s emperor’s throne is of course in his hands.
But, do we associate Xi Jinping as Zhu Yuanzhang who ordered the sun not to set?
As the saying goes, “If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight.” Can Xi Jinping really afford it?
Author Chen Zhaonan: Served as the second and fourth legislators, and is now an online media columnist