China’s coronavirus policy: ‘Protests made a difference’

Beijing is surprisingly quick to ease its strict zero-Covid policy. Chinese expert Nadine Godehardt explains what role the protests have played and what they reveal about Chinese society.

Tagesschau.de: How serious are the changes in China’s Covid policy?

Nadine Godehardt: The publication of the ten measures ends the zero-Covid policy in China. All major restrictions are lifted: quarantine regulations, testing, to name just two. The question will be how all this will be implemented.

Tagesschau.de: What difficulties does the Chinese leadership encounter in implementation?

Godehardt: A few weeks ago there were relaxations in the Covid policy, which were published by the state leadership, but then interpreted differently locally or not implemented at all. The challenge now will be to enforce this locally, not just in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai, where there are many international journalists and companies who can report quickly.

“The strategy is not clear”

Tagesschau.de: Does the previous easing lead to the conclusion that there has long been an attempt to soften the zero-Covid policy?

Godehardt: The new measures go much further than the previous ones. These were rather subtle hints of a potential relaxation of the zero-Covid policy, but not a departure from hard-and-fast rules, such as testing in public life.

Revoking the strict policy is not a solution for the country. It’s a response that may have been planned, but actually in smaller, slower increments. It seems almost rushed now. And even if everyone is talking about openness: it is not clear what the future strategy will be.

Great frustration in society

Tagesschau.de: What role did the protests of the past few weeks play in this – the Chinese leadership justifies the steps now announced with the development of the pandemic in the country.

Godehardt: I think the protests of the last few weeks have helped to react so quickly. The official story is that they are now talking about flu instead of a pandemic. But the protests have shown how great the frustration is in society, even if they have affected only a small part of society.

But they were held in strategically important places in China and also received a lot of attention from abroad. The frustration was aimed at the Covid policy but also at its consequences: the economic restrictions and loss of prosperity that many Chinese have had to accept due to this policy.

‘Management hopes to get away with a black eye’

Tagesschau.de: What happens if the new measures are not implemented outside the big cities?

Godehardt: While the new measures mean that some rules will be lifted, they also mean that the Chinese people will be left to their own devices in dealing with the pandemic. Because the measures are not at all thought out to the smallest detail.

These are very synthetic guidelines that many cases do not even take into consideration. what about schools. What is considered the epidemic state there, what is not? It is to be feared that the implementation of the new rules will once again be left to the people themselves and that difficult times lie ahead for them.

The population is not yet sufficiently vaccinated. There is likely to be a massive increase in the number of infections. In that respect, this is a huge social experiment where the leadership is somehow hoping to get away with a black eye. Because opening up only makes sense if a major vaccination campaign is launched. But that’s not to be expected.

‘These protests were something special’

Tagesschau.de: Given the response of the political leadership to the protests, could the population conclude that it is worth taking a risk and protesting?

Godehardt: These protests were special. No one could have imagined that something like this would happen in China, especially not in a China led by Party leader Xi, who sometimes displays totalitarian traits. The nature of the protests was different from the many local protests that can be seen again and again in China. It’s not that there haven’t been protests in the country.

But these widespread protests – whether they were planned as such or not – their relationship to each other and outsmarting the digital surveillance state over a relatively long period of time was extraordinary and made a difference. This has also prompted the government to react quickly and take action.

Whether this means that people always take to the streets if something doesn’t suit them, I dare to doubt at first. Chinese society will now be busy tackling the virus in other ways. No longer in lockdown, but with high contagion rates. Winter has just begun and there is sure to be a flu wave alongside the pandemic.

And the second question is whether the leadership will cave in and buy a Western vaccine, for example. But this is not entirely clear. Solo: It won’t work without an active mRNA ingredient. That’s why you will probably continue to be very careful with the opening and there will probably continue to be a lot of blockages.

“Society looks after its system”

Tagesschau.de: Have we misjudged the Chinese leadership and Chinese society here?

Godehardt: Above all, the protests have shown that there is a Chinese company struggling with its system. The discussions we’re having in Germany and Europe are very much about global China and the geopolitical challenges posed by China’s course. It is quickly forgotten that the Chinese are the first to be affected by the regime.

The protests also hinted that there is a society in China that has its own way of expressing itself, as much as possible within the system. There have been calls for more freedom or for Xi to resign. But that was more an expression of frustration at the massive restrictions on his usual daily life. And that too has led to these protests.

But I don’t think it’s about regime change or society turning against the party. I don’t see it yet. This requires a new opposition within the party, and there is none after the 20th party congress that has just ended.

The conversation was conducted by Eckart Aretz, tagesschau.de