Xi is a sick China

Chinese leaders have forgotten this. In front of their televisions, Chinese spectators at the World Cup noticed that people in the stands were not wearing masks. People attending matches are not separated from each other. They won’t be searched by men in white plastic spacesuits.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government boasted of having the best measures in the world to fight the disease, and now it’s dunce.

Code Red

The Chinese will undergo tests against COVID-19 as soon as a few cases appear in their community. Because there are no reagents, samples from 10 individuals end up together in a single reagent test tube. Consequently, for every positive result, nine other people who are not necessarily contaminated will receive a red code on their cellphones.

This code is a disaster. These people can no longer leave their homes until their results come back negative. Worse, more often than not, as a serious precaution, all occupants of their building are assigned the same code as their co-workers.

When cases reach hundreds, the entire city is shut down.

Now, nearly a third of China’s cities are under quarantine.

The Chinese government could inoculate its population with vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna. But the Chinese vaccine was found to be very ineffective.

Faced with such a failure, leaders should purchase vaccine doses from Pfizer or Moderna and mass vaccinate the population.

Linked to Xi

The problem is that China’s current approach to containing COVID-19 is closely tied to Xi Jinping, who is happy that the pandemic is giving every citizen an opportunity to reassert state power everywhere, directly and personally.

This show of force left the Chinese Communist Party, since June 4, 1989, living in fear of being overthrown by the population.

Questioning the way we fight Covid-19 is like questioning the totalitarian control the government has exercised over its population for years. It would be critical of Xi.

No one, not even the leaders or officers, would risk committing such a serious crime.

The Chinese population, confined at home and forced to wear masks, will therefore attend World Cup matches. She could see the rest of the world’s population moving freely and unmasked.

It doesn’t bring Xi down. It is also possible that dangerous mutations of the virus will one day force other countries to restore containment measures.

But the pandemic is making Xi’s government look bad.

More than COVID-19, China suffers from Xi Jinping.