China’s zero-Covid protests spark some easing but Xi Jinping still not open to Western vaccines, US says

Some Chinese cities are loosening the rules even though cases are rising, after zero-Covid triggered economic slowdown and widespread public unrest
Despite the social and economic impact of the virus, Xi ‘is unwilling to take a better vaccine from the West,’ US intelligence chief says

China’s zero-Covid protests

Reuters

Published: 12:43pm, 4 Dec 2022

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Although China’s daily Covid-19 cases are near all-time highs, some cities are taking steps to loosen testing and quarantine rules after President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy triggered a sharp economic slowdown and public unrest across several major cities.

While the recent protests are not a threat to Communist Party rule, they could affect Xi’s personal standing, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said.

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Xi has made the zero-Covid approach of mass testing, strict lockdowns and travel control the cornerstone of his anti-pandemic policy, as Beijing played up the narrative that it has helped save lives while millions have perished in countries like the US.

But the policy has exacted a major toll on the economy and caused widespread public misery, such as food shortages and fatal medical delays, frustrations that sparked huge protests across major cities less than 10 days ago.

However, despite the challenges China is facing with Covid-19, as it battles what could become its most severe outbreak, Xi remains unwilling to accept Western vaccines.

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Haines, speaking at the annual Reagan National Defence Forum in California, said that despite the social and economic impact of the virus, Xi “is unwilling to take a better vaccine from the West, and is instead relying on a vaccine in China that’s just not nearly as effective against Omicron.”

“Seeing protests and the response to it is countering the narrative that he likes to put forward, which is that China is so much more effective at government,” Haines said.

“It’s, again, not something we see as being a threat to stability at this moment, or regime change or anything like that,” she said, while adding: “How it develops will be important to Xi’s standing.”

China has not approved any overseas Covid vaccines. Its mass inoculation campaign has depended on domestically produced shots that some studies have suggested are not as effective as some foreign ones.

That means easing virus prevention measures could come with big risks, according to experts.

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The White House said earlier in the week that China had not asked the United States for vaccines.

One US official told Reuters there was “no expectation at present” that China would approve Western vaccines.

“It seems fairly far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines at this point. It’s a matter of national pride, and they would have to swallow quite a bit of it if they went this route,” the official said.

Haines also said North Korea recognised that China was less likely to hold it accountable for what she said was Pyongyang’s “extraordinary” number of weapons tests this year.

Amid a record year for missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said last week his country intends to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force.

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Speaking on a later panel, Admiral John Aquilino, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, said China had no motivation to restrain any country, including North Korea, that was generating problems for the United States.

“I’d argue quite differently that it’s in their strategy to drive those problems,” Aquilino said of China.

He said China had considerable leverage to press North Korea over its weapons tests, but that he was not optimistic about Beijing “doing anything helpful to stabilise the region.”