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Beijing [China]Jan 5 (ANI): James Stent writes in Nikkei Asia that China’s sudden announcement of loosening “zero epidemic” is because President Xi Jinping believes the policy is overly weakening the economy.
According to the authors, the Communist Party realizes that if the country continues with its zero-coronavirus policy, major economic and social hardships will undermine the social contract. As a result, the zero-COVID policy was jettisoned.
Read also | COVID-19 surge: Omicron subvariants BA.5.2, BF.7 cause latest coronavirus outbreak in China, says WHO.
The author, James Stent, is the author of the book “China’s Banking Transformation: The Untold Story” and once served as a director of China Everbright Bank.
After the outbreak of the new crown virus, Xi Jinping sealed off all borders and implemented a strict “zero new crown virus” policy. In the early days, the policy was praised by countries and even their citizens, but in mid-2021, everything changed, according to Nikkei Asia.
But by mid-2021, the rest of the world is starting to learn to live with the virus, while China is sticking to its zero-COVID policy. As the more contagious but less virulent omicron variant spread late that year, the government doubled down on harsh lockdowns, with dire consequences including slowing economic growth, straining local government budgets, closing down small businesses, decimating the service sector and unemployment among youth .
Zero COVID is unsustainable, but at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, Xi Jinping insisted that Beijing would follow through. But after he re-elected the party for a third term in a secret meeting, anti-lockdown street protests erupted in Shanghai and other cities, and Zero COVID was abruptly canceled. Mass testing stopped, lockdowns ended and officials said the virus was no longer dangerous.
The authors also noted that protests, which had alarmed the leadership ahead of the October meeting, were attended by only a small percentage of city residents. Hundreds of millions of rural villagers have been less affected by the COVID lockdown. They largely remain loyal to the party, which has greatly improved their lives, according to Nikkei Asia.
The White Paper protests bear little comparison to the Tiananmen student protests of 1989. These took place in a relatively open intellectual climate and often expressed demands for fundamental political change. With the removal of the zero-coronavirus policy, the scope of the public debate has narrowed.
Most of the recent protests have focused on zero COVID. By ending the policy and using the state’s powerful surveillance and control capabilities, the authorities quickly ended the protests. Now, no one can challenge Xi Jinping. In a zero-COVID unwind, Beijing can blame the problem on incompetent local officials.
Given Xi Jinping’s intolerance of dissent, the strength of his positions and his commitment to China’s authoritarian system, it is doubtful that any protests in the coming years will pose a threat to the party’s control of the country. According to Nikkei Asia, the current detente is a tactical retreat rather than changing the fundamental character of Xi Jinping’s rule.
Earlier in the covid case, the CCP convened the annual China Central Economic Work Conference on December 15-16 to discuss the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s economy and set out guidelines for accelerated development, local media reported. policy. Economic Growth.
In his speech at the meeting, President Xi Jinping emphasized that China’s large technology companies should effectively promote economic growth by creating jobs and promoting exports. Notably, Li Qiang, the No. 2 member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and a close confidant of President Xi, also spoke at the meeting, suggesting that he is emerging as one of the possible candidates for the premiership in 2023.
As part of efforts to consolidate China’s growing economic and military might to challenge President Xi Jinping, Xi has repeatedly advised Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders and officials to strengthen skills/capabilities and reinvent themselves according to the changing global environment .
Therefore, at the “Democratic Life Meeting” of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee (December 26-27, 2022), President Xi Jinping exhorted party leaders to continuously enhance their ability to promote high-quality development. He further emphasized the need to “fill gaps in knowledge as well as gaps in competence and experience”.
According to local media reports, President Xi also stressed that participants should strengthen their learning skills to become experts in their fields while adapting to the changing work environment. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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