For three years, people in China suffered under a draconian lockdown. It was not uncommon to be locked in an apartment for a hundred days. A hundred days without sticking your nose outside, a hundred days of food from plastic packages, a hundred days without other people.
The apartment blocks were isolated like in a dystopian movie. Silhouettes in white suits passed between them - one positive test and thousands of people go into lockdown. In some places, pets were killed. Children were separated from their parents and stuffed into giant halls for the infected.
The drastic measures are explained by the deadly danger that the virus carries. Unlike of the decadent West, above all the USA, China supposedly cares for every person and guarantees security. A "zero covid" policy is said to be inevitable to prevent millions of deaths.
At first, when the corona was still a novelty, there were advocates of the "zero covid" policy in the West as well. But most recently with omicron, a more contagious and milder strain of the virus, it became clear that heavy lockdowns were only delaying the inevitable.
China's communist neighbor Vietnam then abandoned strict measures, relying on vaccinations and disinfection. Today, life in Vietnam is the same as before the pandemic.
Since then, it can be said that China has followed a special path, the only one in the world. The country was getting deeper and deeper into a dead end. The fight against the pandemic was no longer in the foreground, but ideology - China wanted to show the supremacy of the system over the rest of the world.
Before the Congress of the Communist Party in October, no objections were allowed. At that congress, Xi Jinping, who is considered the ideologue of the "zero covid" policy, was elected to lead the country for life with even greater powers.
But it was clearly seen how much the population suffers under the forced security imposed by the Communist Party. Thousands of workers fled the factory halls of Foxconn as soon as one case of the virus appeared. They did not want to keep them in isolation in the factory for months.
After the congress, protests began in several cities. It was a clear sign that the Chinese were fed up, because protest is true heroism in a state of total surveillance and repression.
The demonstrations were quickly contained and did not threaten the system at all. He is more concerned that foreign investors are considering turning their backs on China, whose economy and exports are hindered by a chronic lockdown.
The reaction of the state is surprising. Almost overnight, all corona measures were lifted. Politics went from one extreme to another.
If the Communist Party was important to the safety of citizens, then there would at least be a transitional period, a comprehensive vaccination campaign and adequate preparation of the health system. Nothing like that happened.
Months have passed since the last vaccination for the old and sick, and even then they received the weakly effective Sinovak vaccine. Pharmacies and hospitals are overloaded. The virus does not recognize China's special path. The experience raises fears that the country could be hit too late by a powerful wave with millions of infected and tens of thousands of dead.
The party first crammed the people into apartments. Now she let him go, but left him stranded again.
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