Tag: Communist Party of China

Why China’s Economy Faces a Perilous Road to Recovery

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Many European manufacturers in China have been forced to operate with about half their usual staff for two to three weeks, affecting output somewhat, said Klaus Zenkel, the chairman of the chamber’s South China chapter. As a precaution against lockdowns, many companies had accumulated spare parts in warehouses before the Covid wave and have relied on those to keep running. But to save on costs, a few small suppliers of specific components have stopped operations early for the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on Jan. 21. “Everyone managed a…

China’s Young Elite Clamber for Government Jobs. Some Come to Regret It.

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In Beijing and cities across China, as many as 2.6 million job applicants, including graduates from the country’s top universities, will report to testing centers in early January to face exceedingly long odds and compete for 37,100 entry-level government jobs. The national exam is an annual rite for young Chinese, some of whom spend thousands of dollars for prep classes and many hours cramming for it. It comes at a fraught time. It was supposed to be given in early December, then was canceled at the last minute. The government…

With ‘Zero Covid,’ China Proved It’s Good at Control. Governance Is Harder.

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A widely circulated WeChat article speculated that the shortage of fever medications reflected the government’s lack of preparation for loosening control. And if the government had shown the same political will that it had in implementing “zero Covid,” the article argued, it could have ensured there was ample supply of such medication. “It doesn’t care about the ordinary people, leaving them to fend for themselves and even delighting in their chaos,” the article said, and it urged officials to show up where the public most needed them to win back…

Without a Covid Narrative, China’s Censors Are Not Sure What to Do

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Since China dropped its strict “zero Covid” policy, a joke has been making the rounds on social media about the sudden shift. Three men who don’t know each other sit in a prison cell. Each explains why he was arrested:“I opposed Covid testing.”“I supported Covid testing.”“I conducted Covid testing.” The joke has yet to be broadly censored. It is a sign of just how much the Chinese Communist Party, usually a master of messaging, is struggling to come up with a coherent explanation for the policy shift and a clear…

She Was Supposed to Be China’s Future. After ‘Zero Covid,’ She Wants to Leave.

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[MUSIC] lulu garcia-navarro From New York Times Opinion, I’m Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and this is “First Person.” When Chinese President Xi Jinping took office a decade ago, he started talking about what he called the Chinese dream. xi jinping [SPEAKING CHINESE] lulu garcia-navarro The Chinese dream, he explained, meant Chinese people would find prosperity and economic opportunity in China under the Communist system. And the years that followed delivered on that promise. But Covid has put that dream in peril. Covid zero has shaken people’s faith in the government, and the…

Traumatized by Covid, but Ruled by a Party That Never Apologizes

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She believed the government’s misinformation about the pandemic in the West, so she supported locking down Shanghai in April, a position she now regrets. Now knowing better, she wants the party to apologize to “all the innocent people who died under ‘zero Covid,’ people who lost their income under lockdowns and all the people who were brainwashed by the propaganda machine,” she said. Like Ms. Zhang, most people I interviewed for this column only want to be identified by a single name for safety concerns. In a normal society, for…

Your Monday Briefing: The World Cup Semifinals Loom

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Get ready for the semifinals Four countries will compete in the World Cup semifinals this week, after a weekend of surprises sent two favorites and two underdogs to the next round. Argentina will play Croatia tomorrow, and France will play Morocco on Wednesday. Argentina is driven by the belief that winning this World Cup is Lionel Messi’s undeniable destiny. But Croatia has its own undeniable sense of purpose after beating Brazil, a top contender. France knocked England out to advance. Morocco upset Portugal to become the first country in Africa…

‘Zero Covid,’ Once Ubiquitous, Vanishes in China’s Messy Pivot

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A day after China’s ruling Communist Party announced a broad rollback of the “zero Covid” restrictions that had smothered the economy and transformed life in the country, the propaganda apparatus on Thursday began the daunting task of promoting an audacious revision of history. While the rest of the world concluded months ago that the coronavirus was becoming less deadly, Beijing presented the development as fresh news to explain its abrupt decision to undo the lockdowns that prompted widespread protests. In doing so, it also made a high-risk bet that vaccination…

China Eases ‘Zero Covid’ Restrictions in Victory for Protesters

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The Chinese government announced on Wednesday a broad easing of its exceptionally stringent Covid restrictions, an implicit concession to public discontent after mass street protests in more than a dozen cities a week ago challenged Beijing’s authority. The changes are not a complete dismantling of China’s “zero Covid” policy, but still represent a considerable loosening of measures that have dragged down the economy by disrupting daily life for hundreds of millions of people, forcing many small businesses to shutter and driving youth unemployment to nearly 20 percent, a record high.…

China Stems Wave of Protest, but Ripples of Resistance Remain

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In central China, students chanted demands for more transparency about Covid rules, while avoiding the bold slogans that riled the Communist Party a week earlier. In Shanghai, residents successfully negotiated with the local authorities to stop a lockdown of their neighborhood. And despite pressure from officials, a team of volunteer lawyers across China, committed to defending the right of citizens to voice their views, fielded anxious calls from protesters. The recent wave of demonstrations that washed over China was prompted by frustration about pandemic restrictions, but the unrest also sometimes…