Can a China expert explain why xi didn’t let covid burn through the population?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stupid question.

How?

Considering they are wavering this weekend to reopen some factories, it’s clear economic pressure is mounting to just let it burn thru

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never understood why xi didn’t just let covid rip through the population and achieve herd immunity while keeping the economy open/humming.

Afterall in China, economic growth is everything and he has state control to put down people if they complained that things were open.

Also, covid primarily affects older people, which are usually an economic burden.

For being a cold-eyed calculating type, xi sure sounds like a bleeding heart on covid

Your questions seem to be based on very basic assumptions that suggest you don't actually know anything about China.

+1

Or Chinese culture or the way that Chinese people view illness.

Xi didn't impose zero covid on an unwilling populace.

Yeah so I am asking….

…still haven’t heard a good answer given history of China In it’s willingness to discard life for development/growth

[Anonymous]

I dont think you need a China expert to know that there must be a flaw in your reasoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Older people are respected in China and Asia in general. There is no real herd immunity when you are talking about a virus that mutates and they don't have a good vaccine. For some reason they won't use the western vaccine.

+1. Aging population + the Chinese vaccine (Synovac ???) isn’t the mRNA technology. And Chinese nationalism prevents them from accepting the mRNA vaccine and admitting the American vaccine is superior. Also, they told Modera and Pfizer they wouldn’t “accept” their vaccines until they also got the intellectual property. Which for obvious reasons is never gonna happen.

Result: one of the only nations with very little immunity (and still no vaccine). They have really painted themselves into a corner. They are still where we were in fall 2020, except no vaccine on the horizon. I’ve seen projections of well over a million deaths of they open back up now.

Well, I mean the US has well over a million people who have died from COVID and they have far more citizens so...

[Anonymous]

I believe the original death numbers in Wahun during 2020 could be hundreds of thousands. There is no way, only 5-6K would have died when China were the first one to get exposed and had a high learning curve to tackle with the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never understood why xi didn’t just let covid rip through the population and achieve herd immunity while keeping the economy open/humming.

Afterall in China, economic growth is everything and he has state control to put down people if they complained that things were open.

Also, covid primarily affects older people, which are usually an economic burden.

For being a cold-eyed calculating type, xi sure sounds like a bleeding heart on covid

Your questions seem to be based on very basic assumptions that suggest you don't actually know anything about China.

+1

Or Chinese culture or the way that Chinese people view illness.

Xi didn't impose zero covid on an unwilling populace.

With the suppression of speech and dissent, how could you know? Given the protests now, there is certainly some part of the population that is unwilling to accept zero covid policies

[Anonymous]

I wish the PPs scolding OP for not understanding Chinese culture would just answer the question. I am also curious in the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is a good article about the situation:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/28/china-abandon-zero-covid-protests-mass-vaccination

No I know all of this. My question was why the initial policy in 2020 was taken?

I know Chinese are big on saving face which means doubling down on terrible policy but the initial 2020 “zero covid” policy never made sense to me

Other countries made zero COVID work— like Australia and New Zealand. But, we’re island-bubbles, and had a robust vaccine campaign.

They managed it for a little while. New Zealand lost the battle in February:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/new-zealand/

Australia lost the battle in January:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/australia/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe the original death numbers in Wahun during 2020 could be hundreds of thousands. There is no way, only 5-6K would have died when China were the first one to get exposed and had a high learning curve to tackle with the issue.

Anyone who thinks China’s government has benevolent intentions in regards to Covid is smoking way way too much weed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish the PPs scolding OP for not understanding Chinese culture would just answer the question. I am also curious in the answer.

I am certainly not a China expert. But I know that they treat illness very differently than we do here. They use both traditional medicine and allopathic medicine but don't have the same sort of medical system that we do. Which may account for the extreme reaction towards any illness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stupid question.

How?

Considering they are wavering this weekend to reopen some factories, it’s clear economic pressure is mounting to just let it burn thru

Imagine how much more debt central and local governments must have issued to cover for all the expenses when the revenue collection was zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish the PPs scolding OP for not understanding Chinese culture would just answer the question. I am also curious in the answer.

I am certainly not a China expert. But I know that they treat illness very differently than we do here. They use both traditional medicine and allopathic medicine but don't have the same sort of medical system that we do. Which may account for the extreme reaction towards any illness.

Main reason was death and how much anger it would create in public. Now, it is different - people asked for it so CCP can't be responsible. LOL
XI is more afraid of it's own people than the rest of the world. No wonder they spend more money on their internal security than defense.

[Anonymous]

The traditional bargain was economic freedom and opportunity in return for accepting the CCP. Lockdowns are cratering their economy and killing that deal. Something has to give, the question is whether or not Xi can survive millions of deaths that will follow the lockdown being lifted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe the original death numbers in Wahun during 2020 could be hundreds of thousands. There is no way, only 5-6K would have died when China were the first one to get exposed and had a high learning curve to tackle with the issue.

+1 I agree. Who knows the truth as far as the impact of covid in China; there was some evidence that way more people died than they admitted.

I don’t agree with the way they’re handling this right now but can you imagine if they just let it rip through their society again? I don’t even want to think what kind of variants would be birthed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish the PPs scolding OP for not understanding Chinese culture would just answer the question. I am also curious in the answer.

I am certainly not a China expert. But I know that they treat illness very differently than we do here. They use both traditional medicine and allopathic medicine but don't have the same sort of medical system that we do. Which may account for the extreme reaction towards any illness.

Main reason was death and how much anger it would create in public. Now, it is different - people asked for it so CCP can't be responsible. LOL
XI is more afraid of it's own people than the rest of the world. No wonder they spend more money on their internal security than defense.

Partly, yes.

Remember those early videos of people dramatically collapsing (dead? into a coma? in a faint?) on the streets? Illness is much more dramatic and terrifying in China than it is here.