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“Relax and Clear Epidemic Prevention, Beijing Road is Blocked and Long,” is the headline of a report on China in the international edition of “Echo” on Friday. The report of the newspaper by a special envoy from Shanghai says that the Chinese authorities are walking on a narrow road: on the ridge, on the one hand, the epidemic is heating up again, on the other, the anger caused by the repeated lockdowns.
Several major cities in China announced the easing of anti-epidemic measures in recent days, and Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan’s speech on Wednesday brought hope to change this three-year anti-epidemic strategy. The Chinese health official and central figure in the prevention of the new crown epidemic promised to “optimize” the epidemic prevention in a small and continuous way in his speech, but did not mention the “clean up” policy, and is known for the its firm implementation of the zeroing policy. At the end of March, you visited Shanghai during the period when Shanghai was under lockdown. Sun Chunlan said on Wednesday that as the healing power of the virus dwindled and the vaccination rate increased, China was faced with “new situations and new tasks” in preventing the epidemic. He stressed the need to speed up vaccination of the elderly. Only 66% of the elderly in China over the age of 80 have completed their vaccinations. This critical shortage is said to have delayed China’s real reopening. According to Caixin , Beijing proposes to increase the vaccination rate of the elderly to 90% by the end of January Ambitious goals.
The report quotes Nomura analysts as saying Sun Chunlan’s speech sent a new strong signal that the zero-clearing policy will end in the coming months. And Guangzhou, where violent clashes erupted between protesters and police on Tuesday, announced the lifting of a weeks-long lockdown despite a high number of cases, a decision that was widely followed and warmly received on the Chinese internet. At the same time, Nomura’s experts also pointed out that perhaps this could mark the beginning of the abandonment of the zero-clearing policy, but it has not been completed: “The road to full reopening will still be slow, painful and full of twists”.
Here the author first mentions that China is facing soaring infection rates as winter approaches, which could seriously disrupt the easing of measures by local authorities, with some 35,800 new infections reported on Thursday, a almost record number. Second, it will take some time for officials to change the narrative. For nearly three years, authorities have described the coronavirus as a deadly threat. Some people are afraid of the new crown. This Thursday, two major Chinese newspapers published articles, reporting the conclusions of scientific research experts that the healing power of the Omicron virus has decreased, which appears to prepare the public for a change of mind. Finally, there is the political aspect: according to reports, the eradication of the epidemic has been labeled as Xi Jinping’s personal label, and the victory in the fight against the epidemic is considered proof that the Chinese model is superior to Western democracies. , we cannot risk the possibility of a deadly epidemic in China with a population of 1.4 billion people. Similarly, the Chinese government may give the impression that it will back down under pressure from the demonstrations. Therefore, while making an optimized effort to prevent the epidemic, the authorities have called for the “suppression” of the “hostile forces”. Since Monday, major Chinese cities have deployed large numbers of police, including at street stations and train stations, to prevent new protests.
Macron’s visit to the United States: demonstrates a strong friendship between France and the United States despite the differences
Newspapers continued to cover the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the United States, who met Biden on the third day of the visit, the two sides reaffirmed the friendship between France and the United States and their commitment to the conflict in Ukraine . “Liberation” said Biden told Macron that France was his best friend. Le Figaro’s special report from Washington also focused on the lavish reception Macron received at the White House, as both presidents showed the strength of their alliance despite their differences. As for France’s dissatisfaction with the US IRA, the inflation-reducing law, as Biden put it, Macron is effectively accusing the US and the EU of “unequal status.” The day before, Macron described the US measure, which heavily subsidizes local companies, as “too radical” and could harm European companies and jobs, and demanded that the EU, as a good friend, be respected by the trade wars. While Biden’s response showed principled openness, saying changes could be made to rule out pardons for countries collaborating with the United States, he did not approve any pardons. And for now that seems to satisfy Macron, who said “America wants strong industry and future-proof technology: we want exactly the same.” the whole industry. Macron urged that “technical discussions” must find solutions to “succeed together, not against each other”. Both expressed confidence at the end of their meeting.
The French government prepares for the risk of partial blackouts in winter
In addition, many newspapers also reported that due to insufficient nuclear power generation, the French government is preparing for possible power outages in winter, new words to learn, and the government is gradually preparing people for this possibility. Unscheduled local outages are needed to avoid power outages, which means people can be without heat, phone or internet for hours. The government issued a warning to regional premiers on Thursday asking them to prepare for the risk in January and local authorities will be responsible for ensuring that priority emergency services, hospitals, security services, transport and schools continue to function, assisting businesses and the public Coping with the inconvenience of power outages.
