Yesterday zero Covid, today zero caution
> Read original article on Zeit Online
China's leadership is looking for a narrative for the sudden end of zero-Covid. The propaganda relies on tried and tested methods: radiating optimism, concealing mistakes, finding scapegoats.
The abrupt change of course in China’s Corona policy presents the censorship authorities with a major task that certainly has an impact on social stability: How do you sell the 180-degree turn from zero-Covid to zero-caution of its own population? A direction of attack only slowly emerged after the abolition of the strict measures after 7 December, which suggests that there was also a great deal of uncertainty behind the scenes.
No wonder: The approximately 120 official slogans, with which Xi Jinping's propaganda had hammered Zero-Covid policy into the minds of the population, cannot be erased from one day to the next. The numerous Caricatures in the state media, which branded an opening without hard lockdowns in the West as a system failure, suddenly seemed like commentary on their own, home-made Covid catastrophe.
In order to get things under control, the propaganda machine is relying on tried and tested tactics: radiating optimism, concealing mistakes, finding scapegoats. Omicron has proven to be a type of flu whose mortality rate no longer requires strict lockdown measures. Officials in the mega-metropolis of Chongqing have announced that people with mild symptoms can even go to work.
Lockdowns bought time and prevented deaths
Several state newspapers report on a 100-year-old woman from Xinjiang, who recovered from her infection “surprisingly quickly” after a ten-day hospital stay – despite suffering from pre-existing conditions and high blood pressure. And yet the lockdown measures were still worthwhile overall, according to an editorial in the People's Daily of December 12. They would have bought time to create better medical conditions and keep the number of fatalities low.
Shortly before Christmas, the State media additionally the positive effect on the economy. The strict lockdowns could have maintained economic growth, albeit at a lower rate. The portrayal in Western media that China is risking the death of large parts of the elderly population is called the Global Times "racist, bigoted and intolerant." "Any event that results in the death of Chinese people is welcomed by Western propagandists," it says.
Dissatisfaction among Chinese people is due to "different opinions" in a large country, Xi Jinping explained in a televised address at the end of the year, without mentioning the many protests in Chinese cities by name. "Since the outbreak of the epidemic, we have always put people and life first," Xi explained. However, experts now expect up to one million dead.
Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of Global Times, stated on Twitter that during a trip from Beijing to Chengdu he could see that normality had returned everywhere. "The effects of the pandemic are quickly fading." Experts, however, warn of the consequences of the upcoming Corona wave in the provincesThe fact that things are not so bad is shown by the Global Times Among other things, he pointed out that general life expectancy in China is still increasing, in contrast to the USA. Cynical whataboutism, considering all the deaths that are now being mourned all over China. In addition, Beijing continues to refuse to allow the use of proven effective mRNA vaccines from the West for ideological reasons.
Apparently there was a master plan for the opening
Another argument that is now cropping up everywhere is that the opening had been planned long in advance and that corresponding decisions had already been made in Zhongnanhai in November 2022. Within the "dynamic Covid policy", they reacted immediately to the "lighter variant" Omicron, writes the Global Times"China's socialist system has once again demonstrated that it is capable of unprecedented resilience and adaptability."
However, the fact that there was no master plan behind the opening is proven by the fact that, despite tough lockdown measures, the state has not managed to adequately vaccinate more than 40 percent of those over 80. Omicron had already been detected in China at the end of 2021. In addition, the opening was rushed just a few weeks before the Spring Festival. Millions of Chinese will be travelling around the country this week amidst temperatures that are still partly wintry. This will put even more strain on the already overwhelmed health system.
The way the government is making its U-turn was to be expected, says a 35-year-old Beijing woman who lost her job in the media industry during a lockdown. She compares the approach to a child who changes his mood from one moment to the next. "It's as if 80- and 90-year-olds suddenly no longer exist."
Citizens are happy that they no longer have to fear lockdowns
A joke is making the rounds on the Internet that sums up the confusion surrounding the sudden turnaround in a dialogue between three prisoners explaining to each other the reasons for their arrest:
“I was against Covid tests.”
“I supported Covid testing.”
“I have done Covid tests.”
Of course, you can't complain openly. More than 1,000 social media accounts - some with millions of followers - have already been suspended for criticizing the government's Covid policy. Hashtags such as "chameleon" or "two-faced" were temporarily blocked. Cartoons showing overcrowded crematoria or comments questioning the official cause of death of deceased celebrities were also quickly filtered out.
However, the government is benefiting from the fact that the Chinese are especially happy that they no longer have to fear lockdowns and are finally allowed to travel again. Here, too, China's propaganda machine has developed a strategy to avoid having to clean up its own backyard. In the state media, the precautionary measures taken by some countries to test Chinese travelers for Covid are now being defamed as discrimination - even though China itself requires negative tests from those entering the country.
The propaganda thus ties in with the narrative of the "China virus" at the beginning of the pandemic, with which foreign forces allegedly placed all the blame on China. The Chinese have made many sacrifices in the fight against the virus, is the message behind the calculated outrage. And now it is foreign countries that still do not want to grant them freedom out of revenge.