{"id":1476663,"date":"2022-05-16T12:14:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T16:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1476663"},"modified":"2022-05-16T12:14:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T16:14:50","slug":"communist-china-doubles-down-on-impossible-zero-covid-benchmark-to-control-citizens-with-brutal-lockdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/communist-china-doubles-down-on-impossible-zero-covid-benchmark-to-control-citizens-with-brutal-lockdowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Communist China Doubles Down On Impossible \u2018Zero Covid\u2019 Benchmark To Control Citizens With Brutal Lockdowns"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcommunist-china-doubles-down-on-impossible-zero-covid-benchmark-to-control-citizens-with-brutal-lockdowns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1476663&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Shanghai_Street_lockdown_20210123.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>China\u2019s ruling communist party (CCP) recently announced it is doubling down on its \u201cZero Covid\u201d strategy, wherein it is forcibly locking down and oppressing millions of Chinese citizens with the ostensible goal of completely stamping out the respiratory virus.<\/p>\n<p>A little over a week ago, members of the CCP\u2019s ruling Politburo Standing Committee held a meeting in which party leadership reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining the government\u2019s current lockdown policies in major cities like Shanghai. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/chinamediaproject.org\/2022\/05\/06\/doubling-down-on-dynamic-zero\/\">report<\/a> from the China Media Project, a Chinese news watchdog, a readout of the meeting published in the state-run People\u2019s Daily \u201cis dominated by words like \u2018persistence\u2019 and \u2018unshakeable&#8217;\u201d to describe the party\u2019s devotion to preventing new Covid cases in the nation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe resolve to \u2018persist\u2019 in the dynamic zero approach comes also with the message that dissent over the policy will not be tolerated,\u201d the China Media Project report added. \u201cThe readout notes that the Party must \u2018resolutely struggle against all distortions, doubts and denials of our epidemic prevention policy.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since the CCP reinitiated its \u201cZero Covid\u201d policy several months ago, millions of Chinese civilians have endured immense suffering. As <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/02\/chinas-inhumane-covid-lockdowns-became-a-wake-up-call-for-some-chinese\/\">noted<\/a> by Federalist senior contributor Helen Raleigh, \u201c[R]esidents have been locked inside their apartments like animals,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/panic-buying-triggered-shanghai-residents-230721014.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some even have metal barriers and fences outside their homes<\/a>,\u201d with \u201c[o]ne foreigner in Shanghai\u00a0[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-61209761\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">telling<\/a>]\u00a0the BBC, \u2018No one can get out, and I feel helpless.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/anger-over-covid-lockdowns-mounts-in-shanghai-11650039314\">Reports<\/a> of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/shanghai-in-lockdown-struggles-to-feed-itself-11649353336?mod=article_inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">food shortages<\/a>, lack of access to medical care,\u201d and\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/shanghai-womans-16-hour-bus-ride-into-quarantine-my-only-wish-is-to-leave-this-place-alive-11649131637?mod=article_inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overcrowded quarantine centers<\/a>\u201d have also become widespread in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>While speaking with The Federalist, President of the Population Research Institute Steven Mosher noted that the CCP\u2019s brutal tactics are beginning to generate pockets of resistance among Chinese citizens, with \u201cfood riots breaking out in different cities \u2026 in response to the continued lockdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso, and far more worrisome to the CCP leadership, there have been worker riots in a number of factories,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is in response to the party\u2019s decision to reopen the factories, but confine the workers to its premises, meaning that they work 12-hour shifts, then are forced to eat and sleep on the factory premises in\u00a0primitive conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While such rebellious acts may seem promising, Mosher added that the current pushback among Chinese citizens has not reached a level that threatens \u201cthe continued rule of the CCP.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Elizabeth Larus, an academic scholar on Chinese affairs and the president of E. Larus Consulting LLC, expressed similar sentiments. While speaking with The Federalist, Larus said that \u201cthe Chinese people are limited in their ability to push back\u201d against the government, with the state stifling \u201ccriticism of the \u2018Zero Covid\u2019 policy with censorship, threats, and arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany Chinese will not speak out because they do not want to damage their Social Credit Scores or be forced into quarantine or detention,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is zero chance that there will be public demonstrations against the central government. If discontent escalates further, the central government will throw local government officials under the bus. The central government will blame local government officials for being overly zealous. This strategy protects the CCP leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Larus went on to predict that dictator Xi Jinping will not drop the government\u2019s \u201cZero Covid\u201d policies before the CCP\u2019s upcoming National Party Congress this October, noting how Xi \u201chas staked his reputation and his legacy on keeping Covid fatalities to a minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cXi must keep Covid deaths low to demonstrate that China\u2019s centralized system of government is superior to Western democracy,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is no way that he will jeopardize that legacy by relaxing the \u2018Zero Covid\u2019 strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Xi is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/politics\/article\/3175251\/xi-jinping-moves-step-closer-third-term-communist-party-boss\">expected<\/a> to secure a third term as leader of the CCP at the Party Congress this fall, marking an extremely rare occurrence in the party\u2019s decades-long history.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China\u2019s ruling communist party (CCP) recently announced it is doubling down on its \u201cZero Covid\u201d strategy, wherein it is forcibly locking down and oppressing millions of Chinese citizens with the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1476663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1476663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1476663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1476663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1476663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1476663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1476663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}