As I see it | Lockdowns and Tiananmen amnesia – why Beijing isn’t ready for the Chinese century
- Shutdowns in the country’s biggest cities chip away at the already low international confidence in China’s economy
- Forgetting to remember history can bring the past back to life in unintended ways
The international order is rapidly unravelling in front of our eyes in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the decline of Pax Americana, or US dominance in world affairs.
But, despite all the talk about the emergence of the Chinese century, Beijing does not seem ready for it yet.
For many, including its enthusiastic apologists, Beijing’s heavy-handed response to the outbreaks of the Omicron variant, especially the shutdown or partial shutdown of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, was largely unexpected and unnecessary.
The draconian two-month lockdown of Shanghai, a city of 25 million and the country’s biggest port, dealt a devastating blow to China’s ailing economy and accelerated the exodus of foreign workers and others who previously had no plan to leave.
Its exact economic and political impact may take months to play out, but it has clearly diminished the remaining confidence in the Chinese economy among global investors and drawn sharp criticism from business communities and world leaders.