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And Xi cannot change China’s zero-Covid policy, because, to do so, he would have to lose face by admitting it’s a failure. He would rather have the population e

by ttul 4y ago

And Xi cannot change China’s zero-Covid policy, because, to do so, he would have to lose face by admitting it’s a failure. He would rather have the population endure continual hell. It’s such a tragedy for China.

Leader2light 4y ago
satao 4y ago
Faillure how? The west let millions of people die.
- pfortuny 4y ago
  The west preferred freedom to life. There are many many historical figuresbwho died for that idea.
- dougmwne 4y ago
  I think this is a really legitimate question with a complex answer. At the end of the day, Covid is one of the most contagious diseases out there. It has terrible impacts, but China’s policy is like trying to hold back the rising ocean with ever higher sea walls. The cost will continue to mount, the global isolation will continue to take its toll and one day the waters will break through the walls anyway.
- thehappypm 4y ago
  China is just kicking the can down the road. They have poor population immunity and the virus is endemic in most of the world. Eventually it’ll sneak in
marricks 4y ago
Wait, how is it a failure? I get that their cases have doubled in recent months, but that doubling is from 250 cases a week to 500[1] and their highest spike was a brief 5,000 number of cases in April. Whereas the US, with a much smaller population, has been rocking at least 10,000 cases a day (and far more deaths) all year, with almost all of May to July having more than 100,000 cases a day. [1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/ [2] https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases_select_00 https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases_...
- chasd00 4y ago
  It's a failure in that COVID will never be zero. The policy is pushing on a string, there will be lockdowns forever if the policy remains in place.
  - marricks 4y ago
    Okay, but an aspirational "Zero-COVID" policy seems to be working out better than the US's "burrying-our-heads-in-the-sand" policy. I get it may have an impact on economy but, seriously, how can people value human lives so little?
    - Auracle 4y ago
      “Better” is a vague term. We could reduce a ridiculous number of deaths by reducing the speed limit on all roads and highways to 25mph, but we don’t. The trade off isn’t worth it to most people. Zero COVID policies made some amount of sense when we thought a vaccine that would work really well was around the corner, as the effect on daily life would be temporary.
    - cr1895 4y ago
      > how can people value human lives so little? I would suggest reading up on how the zero COVID approach taken by the Chinese government has impacted its citizens, and how it’s really very much divorced from any pragmatic notion of saving lives.
      - marricks 4y ago
        Can anyone in this thread link to an actual article and describe how horrible it is? It's perplexing that I'm getting so downvoted and the replies have absolute zero information besides "it's just horrible" which sure, maybe it is, but they've had millions less people die from COVID so I need at least some information to change my mind from "it sure seemed to do it's intended job."
        4y ago
lamontcg 4y ago
What is weird is that he can't just force all the old people to get vaccinated. You'd think that'd be one of the benefits of being an authoritarian, but apparently that'd be touching some kind of political third rail in China. He really is stuck with Zero Covid because China's death rate would still be very high if they drop that and let it rip (Similar to what happened in Hong Kong with Omicron).

by ttul 4y ago

Leader2light 4y ago

satao 4y ago

Faillure how? The west let millions of people die.

pfortuny 4y ago
The west preferred freedom to life. There are many many historical figuresbwho died for that idea.
dougmwne 4y ago
I think this is a really legitimate question with a complex answer. At the end of the day, Covid is one of the most contagious diseases out there. It has terrible impacts, but China’s policy is like trying to hold back the rising ocean with ever higher sea walls. The cost will continue to mount, the global isolation will continue to take its toll and one day the waters will break through the walls anyway.
thehappypm 4y ago
China is just kicking the can down the road. They have poor population immunity and the virus is endemic in most of the world. Eventually it’ll sneak in

marricks 4y ago

Wait, how is it a failure? I get that their cases have doubled in recent months, but that doubling is from 250 cases a week to 500[1] and their highest spike was a brief 5,000 number of cases in April. Whereas the US, with a much smaller population, has been rocking at least 10,000 cases a day (and far more deaths) all year, with almost all of May to July having more than 100,000 cases a day. [1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/ [2] https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases_select_00 https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases_...

chasd00 4y ago
It's a failure in that COVID will never be zero. The policy is pushing on a string, there will be lockdowns forever if the policy remains in place.
- marricks 4y ago
  Okay, but an aspirational "Zero-COVID" policy seems to be working out better than the US's "burrying-our-heads-in-the-sand" policy. I get it may have an impact on economy but, seriously, how can people value human lives so little?
  - Auracle 4y ago
    “Better” is a vague term. We could reduce a ridiculous number of deaths by reducing the speed limit on all roads and highways to 25mph, but we don’t. The trade off isn’t worth it to most people. Zero COVID policies made some amount of sense when we thought a vaccine that would work really well was around the corner, as the effect on daily life would be temporary.
  - cr1895 4y ago
    > how can people value human lives so little? I would suggest reading up on how the zero COVID approach taken by the Chinese government has impacted its citizens, and how it’s really very much divorced from any pragmatic notion of saving lives.
    - marricks 4y ago
      Can anyone in this thread link to an actual article and describe how horrible it is? It's perplexing that I'm getting so downvoted and the replies have absolute zero information besides "it's just horrible" which sure, maybe it is, but they've had millions less people die from COVID so I need at least some information to change my mind from "it sure seemed to do it's intended job."
      - 4y ago

lamontcg 4y ago

What is weird is that he can't just force all the old people to get vaccinated. You'd think that'd be one of the benefits of being an authoritarian, but apparently that'd be touching some kind of political third rail in China. He really is stuck with Zero Covid because China's death rate would still be very high if they drop that and let it rip (Similar to what happened in Hong Kong with Omicron).