Softer China Stance On Covid Emerges In Media, Official Rhetoric
After nearly three years of fighting Covid tooth-and-nail, China seems to be moving in a more nuanced direction.
(Bloomberg) -- After nearly three years of fighting Covid tooth-and-nail, and excoriating Western nations that chose to live with the virus at the cost of millions of lives, China’s rhetoric seems to be moving in a more nuanced direction.
Stories of people who survived infections are popping up in state-run media, local governments are vowing to prioritize the public over Covid control, and party mouthpiece People’s Daily urged citizens to take responsibility for their own health.
References to “dynamic Covid Zero” have also appeared less often in the Communist Party’s literature in the two weeks since Beijing ushered in a more moderate playbook on how to combat the virus. At a briefing on Tuesday, officials from bodies like the National Health Commission didn’t use the term at all, a departure from previous briefings. Instead, they encouraged the elderly to get vaccinated.
The seeming moderation comes after China’s zero tolerance policies sparked widespread social unrest following a deadly fire in Xinjiang last week. With some people saying Covid curbs hindered efforts to save residents, protesters across the nation were seen shouting “no to Covid Zero” and “yes to freedom.” While officials have refrained from acknowledging the protests, health authorities struck a conciliatory tone on Tuesday, saying that people’s “reasonable” concerns must be resolved in a timely manner.
China Pushes Elderly Vaccination as Reopening Pressure Grows
Considerable uncertainty remains over President Xi Jinping’s intentions, and whether the Chinese leadership has decided to exit its isolationist stance. While reopening hopes have buoyed Chinese assets across the board, the country’s rules are still the most onerous in the world, with much of the public fearful of the virus.
The persistence of the country’s worst outbreak since the pandemic began could also make these softer signs a short-lived diversion on its tortuous path. National case counts remain elevated, with more than 36,000 infections reported for Tuesday across every province. A rising death toll, which hasn’t yet been seen despite increasing case loads, could drive a reconsideration as the country’s health care infrastructure remains vulnerable.
At the same time that health officials were softening their language around Covid, security authorities were warning against further protests. The Communist Party’s top law enforcement body said that “illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order” won’t be tolerated, vowing to crack down on “hostile forces,” without elaborating.
China Vows Crackdown on ‘Hostile Forces’ Amid Covid Protests
Still, recent developments have heartened observers hopeful for an exit plan.
“The most important development from the past few days is that there is a public debate on the zero-Covid policy in China,” said Zhiwei Zhang, president of Pinpoint Asset Management. “The government did not react by shutting those voices down. Instead there are signals that the government is listening to the public and taking actions to address their concerns.”
Propaganda
On Tuesday, a media outlet supervised by the Propaganda Department of Beijing’s Communist Party Committee published interviews with people who were infected with Covid and recovered, a rare topic in the country of 1.4 billion people where many fear the disease. The patients relayed their infection experiences and shared details, a potential sign that propaganda officials are trying to normalize infection.
The Paper, a Shanghai-based news outlet, put out a call for interviewees on the same subject.
In the eastern Zhejiang province, where an early rumor spread that the government was experimenting with an end to Covid Zero, the propaganda department issued an article saying people should always come first when it comes to pandemic control. Authorities vowed to avoid excessive curbs when executing Covid controls, after wrong-doing was seen multiple times on the ground.
The National Health Commission urged local officials to respond to and resolve “reasonable” Covid requests from residents quickly, as China constantly adjusts its Covid policies, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. The country needs to avoid excessive curbs, reduce inconvenience and cut the strain on the economy and the public to a minimum, according to the health agency.
Testing and Quarantine
PCR testing should be finely-timed and adjusted for different situations, rather than relying on a more-is-better model, the state news agency Xinhua reiterated in a release on Tuesday. The new rhetoric, a contradiction of previous dictates when testing was mandatory or largely encouraged, follows the 20 key measures released earlier this month that eased requirements by removing mass testing in most areas.
Beijing recently removed some PCR testing booths across the city and shortened the operating hours for many of them, even as it reported record high caseloads. Then it launched an antigen test app on WeChat, allowing people to upload rapid results from tests done at home. The move hints at a potential, gradual withdrawal from mass testing, which has caused great inconvenience for many residents.
Looser measures have also been seen on the quarantine front. Guangdong province said close contacts who meet certain requirements can remain at home instead of going to a centralized isolation facility. Some housing compounds in Beijing also allow residents to quarantine at home, after many refused to go to makeshift hospitals and used the new measures to justify their actions.
“The public debate on the zero-Covid policy is critically important for China,” said Zhang. “The road of reopening is likely to be long and bumpy. China needs to keep the debate open, to boost public confidence in policies, and to avoid policy mistakes.”
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