The world’s harshest Covid restrictions exemplify how Xi Jinping’s authoritarian excesses have rewritten Beijing’s longstanding social contract with its people.
Author: Vivian Wang
At a China Covid Protest, a Mix of Giddy Elation and Anxiety
In a country where protests are swiftly quashed, many who gathered to voice their discontent — under the watchful eye of the police — were uncertain about how far to go.
A Godfather of Chinese Nationalism Has Second Thoughts
Wang Xiaodong, once called the standard-bearer of Chinese nationalism, now fends off criticisms of being too moderate, even a traitor. “They’ve forgotten,” he said, “I created them.”
Beijing Turns Into a Fortress Ahead of the Communist Party Congress
The authorities in China have arrested a million criminal suspects, curbed travel to Beijing to keep Covid out, and deployed an army of neighborhood monitors.
In China, Living Not ‘With Covid,’ but With ‘Zero Covid’
The country’s strict coronavirus restrictions dictate the patterns of daily life, like waiting in line for frequent Covid tests and stocking up on extra groceries in case of lockdown.
‘At the Breaking Point’: Tibetans, Under Lockdown, Make Rare Cries for Help
China’s ever-tightening Covid rules have prompted public complaints from residents of areas usually intimidated into keeping quiet.
China’s ‘Zero Covid’ Bind: No Easy Way Out Despite the Cost
From vaccines to propaganda, Beijing has prioritized politics over science, creating conditions that make it difficult for China to join other countries in adapting to life with the coronavirus.
China Imposes More Covid Lockdowns, Stoking Anxiety
Nearly every province has recorded infections in recent days, leaving some 60 million residents locked down. Weariness is growing by the day as the restrictions go on seemingly without end.
China Pushes Its Vision for Taiwan As U.S. Delegation Visits
Beijing has seized on the tensions over Taiwan, further fanned by a meeting between five U.S. lawmakers and the island’s president, to push a far-reaching vision for unification.
China Military Drills Appear to Simulate Attack on Taiwan
As China staged its third day of war exercises, state media was also working hard to shape the narrative, in what seemed a response to earlier public discontent.