China: for President Xi Jinping, “zero Covid” at all costs
Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in Beijing on February 20, 2022. AFP - ANTHONY WALLACE
Text by: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
3 mins
Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping up to defend the “zero Covid” policy.
The Chinese health strategy, associated with repeated confinements and massive screening campaigns of the population, is considered too expensive by many experts.
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From our correspondent in Beijing,
This is the second time in less than two months that Xi Jinping has spoken on the subject.
On March 17, the Chinese president recognized that the policy of absolute non-tolerance with the virus must be
adapted to protect the economy
.
This time, no concessions.
Faced with the anger of the confined in Shanghai and elsewhere, the head of state took advantage of a summit meeting on Thursday to ask the seven members of the standing committee of the politburo, the highest body of the party, to remain firm in the face of criticism.
The Politburo Standing Committee just held a meeting on its COVID control policy.
The verdict: COVID-zero policy will be continued in earnest.
pic.twitter.com/76YZnPwVVE
— Henry Gao (@henrysgao) May 5, 2022
“Zero Covid” or death
The Chinese strategy "
will stand the test of time
", said the Chinese number one in remarks reported by China Central Television.
“
We must keep a cool head and relentlessly adhere to the dynamic “zero Covid” general policy.
We must fight against speeches and actions that distort, question or reject our country's anti-epidemic guidelines and policy
,” the statement
quoted by the
South China Morning Post
said .
These words have been relayed since last month by senior health policy officials.
Adopting a strategy aimed at “lying down” in front of Omicron, like certain Western countries, is not the option chosen by China,
recently recalled
Liang Wannian, one of the figures of Chinese anti-epidemic policy.
“Zero Covid” or death, state media regularly allude to the “
lives saved
” by this strategy, in a country where, according to official figures, viral pneumonia has claimed less than 5,000 lives.
Given China's population density and demographic structure, a relaxation of the "zero Covid" strategy would lead to a large number of serious illnesses and deaths,
epidemiologist Zhang Boli pointed out
on April 26.
“Zero Covid”, a political issue
"
China must maintain its" zero Covid "strategy in order to preserve the hard-won results in the face of the epidemic and to salute the victory at the XX Party Congress (scheduled for next fall, editor's note)
",
hammered a week earlier .
Ma Xiaowei
, the director of the National Health Commission.
The policy of confinement carried out in Shanghai is a “
political battle for Xi Jinping
”, indicates Alex Payette, expert on Chinese policy,
quoted by Asialyst
.
Abandoning this strategy would mean losing the benefits of victory over the virus, as the head of state intends to stay in power for a third term.
The social accounts of Chinese experts - doctors, epidemiologists and above all economists - who dare to question this policy attached to the person of the president, in the name of "
high costs
" which could undermine the growth of the second largest economy in the world,
have been censored
. .
►Read also: When young Chinese, faced with the Covid crisis, dream of elsewhere
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China
Coronavirus
Health and medicine
Xi Jinping