One possibility is that the CCP dropped their Zero Covid policy so that they wouldn't have to admit it was a failure. "This massive outbreak is not our fault. We opened up like the people demanded, and look what happened! Next time, maybe the people will listen to their wise old betters in the Party and do as they're told!".
One m…
One possibility is that the CCP dropped their Zero Covid policy so that they wouldn't have to admit it was a failure. "This massive outbreak is not our fault. We opened up like the people demanded, and look what happened! Next time, maybe the people will listen to their wise old betters in the Party and do as they're told!".
One million (mostly old, frail) people dying out of a population of ~1.5 billion is not terribly significant, especially not to the CCP. They are Mao's cultural descendants, and referring to nuclear war, Mao once said: "What if they killed 300 million of us? We would still have many people left."
"Self-Lockdown" is a totally different thing that a government-imposed lockdown. Those who think they are at risk of a bad outcome if they catch this bug should certainly be free to try to avoid it if they wish to. My wife and I (both in our early 60s then) did exactly that early on, but we CHOSE to do it, and vocally opposed it being forced on anyone else. We did go out for walks in the FL sunshine every day, but avoided contact with others indoors, and as far as we can tell, neither of us has ever had the 'vid.
One million deaths would be a big deal in this case, because Xi Jinping has made it a big deal.
The entire rationale for Zero COVID was to protect people and avoid deaths.
One theory I have seen put forward is that China can no longer afford the expense of Zero COVID. By some estimates, the nucleic acid tests alone amount to 8% of the government's annual revenues, and the lockdowns themselves amount to another 9%..
If those estimates are even somewhat on target, Zero COVID could very well be a bigger expense than Beijing can accommodate.
One possibility is that the CCP dropped their Zero Covid policy so that they wouldn't have to admit it was a failure. "This massive outbreak is not our fault. We opened up like the people demanded, and look what happened! Next time, maybe the people will listen to their wise old betters in the Party and do as they're told!".
One million (mostly old, frail) people dying out of a population of ~1.5 billion is not terribly significant, especially not to the CCP. They are Mao's cultural descendants, and referring to nuclear war, Mao once said: "What if they killed 300 million of us? We would still have many people left."
"Self-Lockdown" is a totally different thing that a government-imposed lockdown. Those who think they are at risk of a bad outcome if they catch this bug should certainly be free to try to avoid it if they wish to. My wife and I (both in our early 60s then) did exactly that early on, but we CHOSE to do it, and vocally opposed it being forced on anyone else. We did go out for walks in the FL sunshine every day, but avoided contact with others indoors, and as far as we can tell, neither of us has ever had the 'vid.
One million deaths would be a big deal in this case, because Xi Jinping has made it a big deal.
The entire rationale for Zero COVID was to protect people and avoid deaths.
One theory I have seen put forward is that China can no longer afford the expense of Zero COVID. By some estimates, the nucleic acid tests alone amount to 8% of the government's annual revenues, and the lockdowns themselves amount to another 9%..
If those estimates are even somewhat on target, Zero COVID could very well be a bigger expense than Beijing can accommodate.