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OpinionZero-Covid gives China’s Communist Party security but at what price for a weary people?
- Hypersensitive authorities are tightening coronavirus curbs and limits on speech
- But the lockdown mentality is unsustainable and China can’t forestall much-needed reforms forever
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A lot has been said about the stakes involved in the Communist Party’s national congress, which gets under way on Sunday and is expected to secure President Xi Jinping a norm-breaking third term in office.
With less than a week to go before the five-yearly conclave opens, mainlanders would normally be speculating about China’s new leadership line-up and contributing to debates over future policy choices and the fate of the country.
But this year seems a bit different, with many people struggling to cope with China’s unrelenting zero-Covid curbs and tightened restrictions on freedom of speech.
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A viral message circulating on Chinese social media this week claims that of the country’s 600-odd cities, people travelling from 563 of them are effectively barred from entering the capital in the name of Covid-19 health controls.
While it is hard to verify the message given the secrecy surrounding coronavirus-related statistics, it gives some idea of how hypersensitive mainland authorities have become ahead of the leadership reshuffle.
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Even for those who have grown used to Beijing’s Orwellian-style social controls in the months leading to the party gathering, this is shocking considering the scale of the people affected and the extent of its implications.
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