Apr 30th 2022 ONE CONSEQUENCE of imposing a pandemic lockdown on Shanghai, China’s worldliest and stroppiest city, is a stream of smartphone videos showing officials being yelled at by locals. As this metropolis of 25m people approaches a month of near-paralysis, these filmed confrontations have taken on a darker tone. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Listen to this story Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitask OK Social-media posts show locked-in…
Day: April 29, 2022
Grim tales test China’s claim to be governed by the people
Apr 30th 2022 BEIJING MOST CHINESE with an internet connection have probably seen the video of a mentally ill woman chained by the neck in the province of Jiangsu. Identified as Yang Qingxia, she was sold to her husband in 1998 and bore him eight children. Ms Yang’s plight was revealed in February. The next month another trafficked woman, with the surname Tao, was discovered locked in a cage in Shaanxi province. Her husband paid 8,000 yuan ($1,220) for her in 2010. The cases sparked outrage. A well-known lawyer pointed…
Hunting for the next virus
Searching for the next virus The Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet, but some researchers are already worrying about mousepox. Colin Carlson, a biologist at Georgetown University, has spent the last few years training computers to predict which dangerous viruses could jump from animals to humans, following in the footsteps of the coronavirus (which came from bats), H.I.V. (chimpanzees) and hundreds of other pathogens. His team used machine learning to develop a short list of potentially dangerous viruses that could eventually make a leap. Mousepox — a virus that infects…
The China-Solomons security deal has been signed, time to move on from megaphone diplomacy | Meg Keen
Now that the Solomons-China security agreement is signed, there’s little value in indulging in a retrospective blame game. Instead, we would benefit from a sharpened focus on the security issues ahead and how collectively to address them. With respect to the Solomons-China security deal there are several key issues that need our attention. First, the secrecy of the deal reflects a pattern, not an unforeseen surprise. Previous “security surprises” include Santo in Vanuatu, Tulagi in Solomon Islands and Kanton in Kiribati. These deals are a push by China, via the…
Political Stakes High as Beijing Responds to Virus Outbreak
Advertisement Classes suspended. Buildings and communities sealed off. Mass testing of residents. A rush to stock up on food, just in case. Beijing, China’s sprawling capital, is starting to resemble other Chinese cities grappling with the latest wave of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Authorities are moving quickly to try to prevent a massive COVID-19 outbreak that could trigger a citywide lockdown like the one that has paralyzed Shanghai for more than three weeks. The political stakes are high as the ruling Communist Party prepares for a major congress…
Beijing Closes Schools as It Tries to Contain an Outbreak
Schools in Beijing, where a coronavirus outbreak has alarmed Chinese leaders, were closed on Friday and dozens of buildings remained under lockdown, as a five-day holiday weekend approached. The Chinese capital has recorded more than 200 cases since April 22, according to officials — a tiny number most anywhere else in the world, but cause for concern for officials in China, where the coronavirus has been kept largely under control for two years. The central government is still adhering to a policy of trying to stamp out local transmission, rather…
Under Lockdown in China
At the height of China’s worst Covid outbreak, the authorities in Shanghai took over gleaming high-rise office buildings and turned them into mass isolation centers. Floor after floor, room after room, the buildings were filled with people, their beds arranged in tight rows. Those buildings, and the broader lockdown of Shanghai, reinforced the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s power to marshal resources in its quest to eliminate Covid. But they also fueled deep frustration with the government’s failures and overreach. In eastern Shanghai, police officers in white protective suits clashed with…
As China looks on at a world opening up, can Xi Jinping survive zero-Covid?
Across much of the world people are taking international holidays, returning to the office, and going to festivals and political rallies. Faced with the seemingly unstoppable Omicron variant, they’ve decided to live as close to normality as they can in the presence of Covid-19, limiting its impact. But in Covid-zero China it’s a vastly different story. An estimated 340 million people in at least 46 cities are under some form of lockdown or restrictions in China, as cases appear in multiple provinces – often in so far tiny quantities. On…
Xi Jinping Suffers From the Putin Effect
Advertisement The Chinese government’s stand on Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine is a litmus test of Xi Jinping’s literacy in international affairs. How he goes forward in managing China’s response to the ongoing war – which may become a wider one – has profound implications not only for Xi’s personal standing but also for China’s overall reputation throughout a world in which it is attempting to gain wider influence and control. In fact, as the war worsens and Vladimir Putin and his commanders now face the specter of being tried…
Shanghai lockdown: Residents protest after five weeks of strict zero-Covid measures
Residents have been banging pans and shouting from the windows of their homes, to protest against the government enforced lockdown in Shanghai. The Chinese government has been pursuing a zero-Covid strategy since the beginning of the pandemic, with the aim of keeping the country entirely Covid free. Criticism of the government is rare in China, but residents said they have struggled to access food supplies, while others have been temporarily evacuated from their homes so they can be disinfected. BBC