image source,Getty Images
Some China watchers had expected that China’s draconian anti-epidemic policies would come to an end after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China this weekend. However, Beijing has recently released signals one after another, implying that the new coronavirus “zero” policy will not change in the short term.
The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s newspaper, published an article by a commentator signed “Zhong Yin” for three consecutive days, emphasizing that the dynamic reset is “sustainable and must be adhered to.” As a mouthpiece newspaper, the authors of such byline articles generally have official backgrounds.
According to Chinese media reports, Shanghai Pudong New Area and many other places have recently issued announcements to recruit community prevention and control personnel, and the contract period is as long as two years, which has once again strengthened the outside world’s expectations for the authorities to continue the epidemic prevention policy.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in early 2020, the Chinese government has adopted measures such as city closures, large-scale testing, and strict border control to ensure a much lower infection rate than other countries. To the blow, aroused growing public complaints.
People’s Daily said in a commentary titled “Dynamic reset is sustainable and must be adhered to” on Tuesday (October 11): “At present, the epidemic situation across the country still has the characteristics of ‘more points and more areas’, and there is still another domestic epidemic. The medium and high risk areas are approved, and the prevention and control tasks are arduous and arduous.”
The article pointed out: “The more this is the case, the more we must deeply realize that the “dynamic reset” is sustainable and must be adhered to, and continue to scientifically focus on epidemic prevention and control.”
“If we calculate the general ledger, our epidemic prevention measures are the most economical and effective… The spread of the epidemic will inevitably cause more serious losses to people’s lives and properties,” the article said.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China’s propaganda department has often described leading the country to success in the fight against the epidemic as a major political achievement of leader Xi Jinping, because the country’s death toll from the new crown epidemic has been relatively low. By contrast, state media have often ridiculed Western countries that have announced easing of restrictions for failing to fight the virus.
On Wednesday, the People’s Daily published another article saying that some countries have chosen to “lie down” and adopt a “coexistence with the virus” policy, “not because they do not want to prevent and control the epidemic, but because they cannot prevent and control the disease and are unable to prevent and control it.”
In addition, the official news agency Xinhua also issued a shout-out on Tuesday (October 11): “Enhancing concentration and endurance, epidemic prevention and control must not lie flat.”
At a time when the official media has published a lot of articles, more and more people and investors are expecting that the authorities will ease the restrictions after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. China is under growing economic pressure due to frequent lockdown measures.
The World Bank lowered its forecast for China’s economic growth this year in a recent forecast, projecting its GDP to grow at 2.8 percent, compared with a 5 percent forecast in April. The growth rate is lower than that of developing economies in East Asia, which would be the first time since 1990.
The coronavirus restrictions have also led to complaints from people who need to travel, and people are worried about being asked to quarantine at any time. According to data from the Ministry of Transport, the average daily number of passengers sent during the seven-day National Day holiday in China this year fell by 36% compared with the same period last year and 58% compared with the same period in 2019.
However, the Chinese government has repeatedly stated that the current epidemic prevention policy will not change. In May this year, Chinese leaders called at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee to “resolutely fight against all words and deeds that distort, doubt, and deny my country’s anti-epidemic policies and policies.”
According to Chinese media reports, seven districts in the financial center of Shanghai have begun recruiting staff for community prevention and control posts, bringing the total to 940. These people are expected to specifically assist in the operation of community nucleic acid testing sites and coordinate community closure management.
Among them, Pudong New Area announced to recruit 575 people from the society with a contract period of 2 years.
image source,Getty Images
Beijing has recently released signals one after another, implying that the “zero-out” policy of the new coronavirus will not change in the short term.
Two-level Communist Youth League organizations in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the capital, Hohhot, also announced that more than 4,300 volunteers for epidemic prevention and control have been recruited to fight the epidemic. Hohhot has found nearly 4,000 infected people in recent days.
On the eve of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the number of cities in China affected by the new crown epidemic reached a record high. According to reports, on October 7, a total of 31 provinces in China and 171 cities in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps had positive infections.
The Xinjiang autonomous region, which accounts for about one-sixth of China’s area, announced the suspension of all passenger trains, while asking people to “not leave Xinjiang unless necessary”. Xinjiang officials also apologized for the virus spilling over to other regions, saying it “affected the overall situation of national epidemic prevention and control.”
Cai Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, ordered the capital to always maintain a state of “walking on thin lines in Linyuan” and go all out to guard against it. In the first half of this year, Shanghai, which had been closed for two months, announced that community nucleic acid screening will be carried out at least twice a week in all districts of the city until early November.
Sun Shaocheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, ordered that the epidemic prevention must adhere to “killing chickens with a bull’s knife” to prevent the spread of the epidemic, “especially not to spill over to Beijing.”
