[베이징=이데일리 신정은 특파원] From the 26th, the Hong Kong government has decided to abolish quarantine rules for incoming passengers. It has been over two years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, you cannot use public facilities such as restaurants for three days after entering the country, and you must self-monitor for an additional four days.
Reactions in China were mixed. Many netizens said “I support” and “Envy”, but there were also many objections such as “The economy and life changed” and “Stupid choice to follow developed countries”. Mainland China has eased the quarantine on entry to ‘7 + 3’ since the end of June, but international flights are often cut off, and many local governments are still calling for a longer quarantine.
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Xi Jinping’s long-term rule is expected to ease after the party conference in October
The world is removing the mask and aiming for ‘endemic’ (endemic), but China still adheres to ‘zero corona’. On the 19th (local time), the General Directorate of Queen Elizabeth II held at Westminster Abbey in London, England, was the only one among major countries to wear a mask, including the Chinese delegation, including Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Uzbekistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on the 15th, he didn’t just attend the dinner. The Chinese delegation reportedly declined the dinner due to quarantine guidelines.
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Many cities in China are still under control or under lockdown. With the world opening its borders, China cannot continue to adhere to the zero corona virus. However, as shown in Hong Kong’s response to the easing of quarantine, there is a wide difference in opinion on the zero corona, making it difficult to predict when the quarantine will be eased. In China, changes are expected after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (20th Party Congress), which begins on the 16th of next month. As it is the party congress where the third term of office of President Xi is decided, it is predicted that it will be difficult to ease the quarantine measures in the past for the sake of quarantine performance. As a result, China is pulling the reins of quarantine even more in front of the party congress.
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After deciding on Xi’s long-term rule, it is analyzed that China will not be able to adhere to the zero-coronavirus quarantine in order to revive the economy. Resistance to the Zero Corona virus is also growing in China. In particular, on the 18th, in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China, people separated from Corona 19 fell into quarantine while traveling on a bus, killing 27 people. Complaints of city lockdowns, like Shanghai, have surfaced.
It could last until March next year… a big economic shock
On the other hand, some predict that China will maintain zero corona until March next year. This is because, even if President Xi is elected for a third consecutive term at the party congress, key government figures such as the prime minister will be completed in the 14th two sessions (National People’s Congress and Consultative Conference Chinese People’s Political) organized. to be held early in March next year. Global financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Nomura also predicted that there would be no major changes in the no-corona policy until March next year to maintain the stability of the regime.
China has been promoting the superiority of the Chinese Communist Party and the socialist system with the achievement of zero corona. The rationale is that, unlike other countries, many lives were saved by maintaining zero corona. According to China’s National Health Commission, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in mainland China (excluding asymptomatic, undisclosed cases) by the 24th was 249,389, with only 5,226 deaths.
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Chinese experts claim that the United States failed to contain the virus, resulting in more than 1 million deaths, and that 4 million people would have lost their lives if China did not properly control the virus. 4 million is a simple calculation of China’s population of 1.4 billion, which is four times that of the United States (about 330 million), and the number of deaths is also four times. Many Chinese are shaken by these claims amid fears of the coronavirus.
Quarantine achievements may be publicized, but China is paying the price of slowing economic growth due to zero corona. If China’s economy slows down, it could be a bigger challenge for the Chinese government. China has set its growth target for this year at ‘around 5.5%’, but even 3% is expected to be difficult to achieve. If China fails to meet its economic growth target, it will be the first time in 24 years since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
Yanzhong Huang, senior global health researcher at the American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong, “China started zero-corona to succeed in the fight against COVID-19, but two and a half years later, the severity of the disease has decreased significantly, “The second crisis and the unintended consequences of this approach are increasingly unjustifiable,” he said.
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