Incipient fatigue and frustration with China’s COVID-zero strategy

After almost two years of a pandemic that China has fought with some of the most forceful measures in the world, some signs of unease are beginning to emerge in the Asian giant against this strategy of zero tolerance to COVID-19.

While many nations – also in the cautious Asian region – are trying to learn to live with the virus, China it keeps the borders closed and decrees massive confinements and screening, sometimes for a single case.

The costs of this strategy are well known to the 210,000 residents of Ruili, a city on the border with Burma that has already undergone three major lockdowns and frequent mass tests, leaving many businesses on the brink of collapse.

A merchant named Lin says his jewelry is hanging by a thread, without tourists or customers due to sanitary restrictions.

“We continue to operate but we are surviving”Stated Lin, who did not want to give her full name for fear of retaliation.

In a widely shared television interview, Hong Kong University professor Guan Yi questioned China’s strategy this month, arguing that it should not deploy mass testing.at every opportunity”Or administering doses of booster vaccines without having sufficient data on their efficacy.

During the first year of the pandemic, China successfully contained infections. But the delta variant has proven more difficult to combat.

In recent weeks, cases have been detected in more than 40 cities, although the number of infections remains derisory compared to other countries, even more for a population of 1.4 billion people.

Even so, millions of people were confined and many millions more saw their lives disrupted: canceled weddings, shortened funerals, closed schools or suspended flights that left thousands of tourists stranded …

Indifferent to pressure

Fired if they fail to control the infections, local officials have opted for increasingly drastic measures. One region offered thousands of dollars in exchange for information on an outbreak.

Beijing “faces increasing domestic pressure to move towards a more flexible approach,” it says. Yanzhong Huang, del Council on Foreign Relations.

The desperate odyssey of a man through the country generated stupor in social networks. The businessman left Beijing for a business trip and could not return to the capital despite being vaccinated, having tested negative and not having traveled to a risk area.

After the incident went viral on the networks, the authorities admitted that some people could have been blocked by mistake.

The nets also caught fire when in the center of the country some workers of the sanitary services killed a dog with a lever while its owners were in quarantine.

“How can we trust a state that claims to serve the people, but applies the law so brutally?”Said a netizen.

But most experts doubt that the communist authorities will review their strategy before the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February or even before the important Communist Party Congress in late 2022.

An eventual relaxation will also depend on an improvement in the available vaccines. China So far, it has opted for five local serums, although their protection rates are lower than those produced in other countries.

Some government figures have specifically expressed their doubts about the effectiveness of the delta variant.

The state media, however, have tried to settle any debate on Chinese strategy, indisputable for them.

The authorities will continue with their strategy and will despise “frustrated citizens as a minority”Says Natasha Kassam of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.

To the limit

While in Ruili, residents’ frustration was revealed by a post on the WeChat social network by former Deputy Mayor Dai Rongli, who said the measures “they were squeezing the last drops of life” from the city.

“Only those who are in this situation know how miserable we feel”Replied a local.

Local media assure that a baby has already undergone more than 70 tests of COVID-19.

With no income, a videographer by the name of Lu claims that he has used up his savings to pay the rent for his office space. “I can’t take much more”, dice.

Some locals have decided not to wait any longer. A jade merchant named Wen chose to leave the city with his family after months of hardship. “There is no business to do in Ruili”, He assures.