China Seeks 'Improved Anti-Epidemic Approach,' Admitting Lockdowns Don't Work

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper admitted in a report on Monday that strict lockdown measures imposed since the Chinese coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan in 2020 have failed, driving cities “on a quest for an improved anti-epidemic approach.”

China has experienced nearly ceaseless struggles with combatting the Chinese coronavirus since the pandemic began in the country in late 2019. Most recently, Chinese authorities locked down Xi’an, a city of 13 million people, in December, and admitted to uncontrolled outbreaks in 28 provinces this month.

In March 2020, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping declared his country victorious against the infectious disease. At the time, Chinese media accused the West of embracing “total surrender” against the virus for not implementing totalitarian lockdowns. On Monday, the Global Times praised Shanghai officials for making the “courageous and necessary” to depart from the policy – though less wealthy parts of the country, like northeastern Jilin province, continue to suffer under an intense lockdown regimen.

The Times highlighted the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen for taking measures “vastly different from the strict lockdown imposed at the early stage of the epidemic in Wuhan,” largely due to their importance in China’s and the global economy. Shenzhen, a city on the border with Hong Kong where much of the world’s technology is manufactured, opted for “work-from-home” lockdowns that forced workers to live in factories to prevent production delays.

Shanghai has eschewed full-city lockdowns and instead begun implementing neighborhood lockdowns – still prompting panic and hoarding, but preventing what would essentially be house arrest for the 41 million people in the Shanghai metro area.

The departure from the “zero-COVID” method of mass house arrest that China has clung to since the pandemic began is particularly stark in light of Xi, who for months failed to address the pandemic at home in any public way, demanding Communist Party officials follow “strict implementation” of quarantines this month.

Jilin province followed Xi’s orders, imposing widespread lockdowns, building “makeshift hospitals,” and severely curbing residents’ freedom. The Global Times appeared to highlight Jilin as an example of failure, an admission that the lockdown method was not working.

“Northeast China’s Jilin Province, where strict prevention measures have been adopted, continued recording surging infection numbers, underscoring a series of loopholes seen in the city as it handles the latest outbreak,” the Global Times lamented.

In contrast, the Communist Party propaganda outlet applauded Shanghai, which did not adhere to Xi’s preferred method of lockdowns.

“Did Shanghai fail in carrying out its precise dynamic zero approach and explore a new way for China to fight Omicron?” the propaganda outlet asked.

“Shanghai’s exploration a courageous and necessary one, especially when more suggestions were made by epidemiologists in China and overseas to adjust China’s zero tolerance strategy in a more dynamic way,” the publication claimed, “in lowering the costs on social development and people’s livelihood, striking a balance between the regular anti-epidemic work and economic growth. ”
The state outlet cited Chinese government-approved “experts” who suddenly expressed concern for “trouble to people’s daily lives” and the “social and economic cost” of total lockdowns.

A worker, wearing a protective gear, guards the entrance to a neighborhood in lockdown as a measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus, in Jing’an district, in Shanghai on March 29, 2022. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

“Though many do not agree with an immediate reopening with the world considering the severe rampage of the [Chinese coronavirus] overseas, almost no one would still prefer major lockdowns and strict measures until the virus is wiped out,” immunologist Zhuang Shilihe is quoted as saying.

The Global Times call for alternatives to the Communist Party’s approach to lockdowns preceded a full-throated defense of Chinese policy in the People’s Daily on Tuesday, the official newspaper of the Party.

“China is in a leading position globally in economic development and pandemic control,” the People’s Daily proclaimed, “which fully demonstrates the strong ability of the country to control the virus and the obvious advantages of the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

The propaganda newspaper condemned American outlets and observers for questioning total lockdowns as a reasonable approach to the years-long pandemic.

“China’s pandemic control practices fully prove that the ‘dynamic zero-COVID approach’ is science-based, necessary, effective and feasible,” the People’s Daily claimed. “It is something that must be done by a major country with more than 1.4 billion people, as well as an obligation of a responsible government and society.”

In contrast, the People’s Daily claimed that any concern from the West for the ongoing outbreak in Hong Kong – which resulted in Beijing-controlled officials separating infants from their parents to impose quarantine – was “narrow and evil.”

“It turns the pandemic into a tool and weapon out of ulterior political motives,” the outlet concluded. “The unscientific, unequal, and irresponsible pandemic response led by the White House, prejudices held by political parties, as well as the reckless dissemination of fake information have traumatized the credibility of the U.S. government, and the rights to life and health of Americans, whose trust in their government has been ‘bankrupt.’”

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