At the recently concluded Chinese Communist Party congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping cemented his power. Breaking political norms, Xi secured another term as president, signaled his intention to rule like an emperor, and packed the seven-person standing committee with loyalists. The question he now confronts is whether to continue with his disastrous policy of controlling Covid-19 by any means necessary.
The most notable person Xi elevated to the Standing Committee was Li Qiang, the Communist Party secretary of Shanghai and a longtime protégé. Many observers thought Li’s political star had faded after Shanghai’s Covid lockdowns, during which he enforced Xi’s so-called “dynamic zero Covid” policy—seeking to minimize Covid cases through regular mass Covid-19 testing, mandatory contact-tracing, strictly enforced quarantines, and lockdowns—with a degree of cruelty and zealousness the Chinese people haven’t experienced since the Cultural Revolution. Residents found themselves locked inside their apartment buildings; many went hungry; individuals with chronic illnesses or medical emergencies missed their treatments; some died. The lockdowns were so unpopular that immigration inquiries from wealthy Shanghai residents have skyrocketed.
The question is what Li’s elevation to China’s second-most-powerful position means. Xi may be valuing loyalty, not competency. And he may be signaling that “zero Covid” is not going to be relaxed.
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