Why politicise China’s zero-Covid protests when it’s just Covid fatigue-

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3201458/why-politicise-chinas-zero-covid-protests-when-its-just-covid-fatigue?utm_source=rss_feed

Over the weekend, there were protests in several major cities in China over Covid-19 restrictions. In response, some commentators including the “China doomsday” prophet Gordon Chang are again predicting the beginning of the end for Communist Party rule, while others such as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in his first major foreign policy speech, cited the protest crackdowns as evidence of Beijing’s challenge to Western values.

The protests in China are reactions of Covid-19 restriction fatigue, which has affected many other nations in recent years. Other countries similarly deployed police to quell the protests, with Canada famously “debanking” truckers protesting last February. Yet when China takes milder actions, the response and the narrative change.

Here, conclusions have led facts, occasionally supported by imagination. An old Beijing saying speaks of “one’s backside governing one’s head”, describing a person’s views being shaped by individual circumstance and outlook.

To combat this impulse, American philosopher John Rawls recommended that decisions be made impartially from fundamental principles, behind a “veil of ignorance”.

China’s response to Covid-19 is deeply rooted in its history and developmental stage. Firstly, China’s vast regional developmental disparities affect health care, education and culture. Students in its international cities such as Shanghai, for example, grow up absorbing international popular culture, with remarkably open high-school textbooks.

But rural China still maintains a starkly different outlook. Reverence for elders and filial piety have epitomised Chinese civilisation for three millennia, and those values remain strongly held by a majority that these protesters do not represent.

During the Han dynasty, for example, China even sent an envoy to the nomadic Xiongnu, admonishing them for not feeding their elderly properly. Treating the elderly with utmost care has long been quintessential to the Chinese mentality. Indeed, an overlooked aspect in this wave of demonstrations is how some protesters were upset by the inadequacies of some of the Covid-19 protection measures.

Secondly, China’s Covid-19 vaccination rates among the elderly remain low. Beyond the obvious, much-discussed reasons detailed subsequently are intractable sociocultural factors. As we discuss vaccine scepticism among the elderly in China, we must remember that in their youth, China experienced a wave of healthcare madness, during which, for example, chicken blood was transfused into people to boost health.

As seen with vaccine sceptics in the West, some from the political far-right, changing mindsets is challenging. Were China to mandate vaccinations, it would create an even greater uproar.

China caught in a Covid-19 bind as winter approaches

Thirdly, China has hesitated to import mRNA vaccines. Some see in this a Chinese “vaccine hypernationalism”. The reality is China imports many Western pharmaceutical products. Its hesitancy over foreign mRNA vaccines likely stems from the erosion of trust between Beijing and Washington, including the previous US administration’s regrettable use of an anti-China pandemic narrative for political gain.

Encouragingly, Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US scientist, has been calling for a depoliticisation of Covid-19, so Chinese and American scientists can work together. If the US-China relationship calms down, there is hope of more effective vaccinations rolling out quickly, inspiring cooperation on climate change and other areas.

More importantly, the Chinese leadership should consider that these unexpected protests reflect a systemic deficiency in accurately delivering public opinion, not only on the restrictions’ strictness, but also their fair and diligent enforcement. These issues, and communication about them, are critical given China’s top-down decision-making structure.

China’s complexity makes effective feedback mechanisms, impartial enforcement and effective communication pivotal to continued Communist Party success. Given how the party has self-corrected in reviving the economy, the reforms needed now are well within its capability.

Contrary to Western media portrayals, only a small minority expressed direct anger at the central government, with the majority protesting against local administrators. If Beijing is swift in investigating local overreach and corruption, a dangerous escalation would be averted.

This also brings an interesting point regarding Hong Kong affairs. Given the city’s special status under the “one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong’s local affairs are more complex than on the mainland. This speaks to the real and pressing need for broad and constructive participation by moderate political and civic groups, offering independent checks on bureaucratic whims.

Striking right balance remains Hong Kong’s Covid-19 test

To achieve better governance and social coherence, moderate opposing views should be heard. For clear heads to find feasible frameworks for collective governance, contrary opinions and advice must also inform decision-making.

Rather than let young adults run society, even with laudable intentions, we should remember Lee Kuan Yew’s wise response to Singaporean youth protests: that the young ought to be idealistic and want to change the world for the better, but the decisions must be made by more experienced grown-ups.

But he also said the decisions taken must be wise so that when the youth mature, they would look back and agree that those decisions were correct.

China’s Covid-19 protests do not pose a shock to the system, which is very capable in handling discontent, but they do create an opportunity to recognise that the causes of China’s difficulties do not always result from its political system.

China and many Western countries share more values than not. Rather than antagonise the Chinese government at every opportunity, helping China and its people combat Covid-19 will offer a path towards global recovery and, hopefully, an international reconciliation.