When Beijing reported five new corona cases this week, local authorities claimed the virus had crept into the Chinese capital from South Korea on imported clothes.

People who deal with such textiles would therefore have to do a PCR test every week from now on.

It would be laughable if it weren't so serious and if a worrying number of people believed this xenophobic nonsense.

Even more troubling is that many researchers are willing to back the lunacy with pseudoscientific explanations.

This once again demonstrates the power of Chinese propaganda, which has taken the country into a parallel universe since the beginning of the pandemic.

Common sense has been declared an enemy of the people.

Science is subject to the dictates of ruler Xi Jinping, who is staging his corona policy as a battle of systems between "China's order" and "the chaos in the West".

An example is being made of Shanghai, the most modern city in the country.

Images of thousands of uniformly dressed doctors and nurses dispatched from other parts of the country are intended to show the mobilizing power of the Chinese state.

It is undoubtedly one of the biggest differences compared to the West.

Shanghai in particular has long boasted of its corona measures, which should affect the lives of residents as little as possible.

But since the number of infections has skyrocketed, the central government has taken over.

Instead of precision, it is now a question of demonstrating toughness and the ability to suffer.

The Tale of "China's Order"

In contrast to the “Chaos in the West,” the “China Order” tale demands that every infected person, without exception, be locked up in a quarantine center indefinitely, even if they have no symptoms.

The fact that this increases the risk of a serious illness is irrelevant.

In some mass accommodations, the infected have to fight in close combat to secure blankets, water and food because the authorities are overwhelmed with the mammoth task of caring for 25 million trapped residents at the same time.

Instead of allowing them to shop for essentials themselves, the main lesson being spread is that all cities must have enough quarantine beds.

In the meantime, pure teaching even required that infected infants be separated from their parents.

After an outcry from the population, this has now apparently been revised.

On the other hand, the greatest omission of Chinese corona policy, the low vaccination rate among older people, is hardly talked about.

Only the "zero" is considered a measure of success

Only a fifth of those over 80 are boosted.

The protection of vulnerable groups has not played a role so far, because only "zero" could be used as a measure of success.

The population has long supported the party's strict zero-Covid policy because it has saved the country from a high number of corona deaths.

But the highly contagious omicron variant drives up the economic and social cost of the strategy and makes the collateral damage ever more visible.

Suicides are increasing.

Chronically ill people die because they no longer receive medical care.

Why are the measures not being adapted to the new situation, despite all the appeals of some courageous scientists?

For two years, the popular leadership has been declaring that the idea of ​​“living with the virus” is evidence of the decadence and weakness of the West.

Any departure from pure doctrine, even just allowing home quarantine, could be taken as an admission that the "important instructions of Secretary-General Xi Jinping" may not be beyond doubt.

Enforcing his hard line has now been declared a loyalty test for officials.

A pattern can be seen behind this, which can already be seen in the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and also in China's attitude towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine: System competition with the United States has become the leitmotif of Chinese politics.

When head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has committed himself to a direction, officials outdo each other in following him.

It is repeatedly said that China risks "damaging its own interests", for example with its pro-Russian stance in the war in Ukraine or if it does not allow the more effective Biontech vaccine.

That misjudges the Beijing calculation.

At the party congress in the fall, Xi Jinping is to be proclaimed the epoch-making leader.

Anyone who wants to get ahead in the apparatus must now gather even more closely around him.