Many months after seemingly burying covid in a pit, the virus was more or less a distant memory. There was still an atmosphere of vigilance, masks were still compulsory on public transport. Travel quarantines were unavoidable and stern eyes would follow you around airports.
By this point, the UK had already adopted the ‘fuck it’ policy. Restrictions were being pulled down and swathes of the world were getting vaccinated. In China, the view of the world relaxing their restrictions was viewed with contempt. It was billed here as flagrent disregard for the safety of citizens. In China, people remained terrified of the virus, and it wasn’t long until they had to deal with it again.
It’s not clear how the country was once again plagued with the virus, but it’s likely that it has something to do with its giant border that reaches around some questionable territory. It’s likely that covid re-entered the country due to some poor straggler trespassing into the country illegally.
Whatever the true story, China had another fight on its hands. The good work carried out in 2020 was on the verge of becoming redundant. The country went down a route much less overwhelming than it had the previous year, a national lockdown was out the question. A more targeted strategy was adopted instead. Pinpointing the provinces and cities that were hotspots of the latest outbreak and bringing in harsh measures. The panic-buying of rice conversely to the UK preference of pasta began.
Measured steps came back into place country-wide, showing health codes detailing where you’d been and whether you had been vaccinated or not was the latest method of entry into public areas. Propaganda texts ordered observation of hygiene, vaccinations were almost mandatory and negative test results became currency to fly or to even continue working. The country still largely closed at this point. It was clear that China was adopting a serious no-tolerance policy towards Covid.
In a world where countries are all at mercy to the virus, China’s approach is starting to look like a vicious circle that is likely to continue in a paranoid stalemate for some time. While other wealthy countries have taken a stance closer to accepting that Covid is now a part of the 21st century, China is stubbornly refusing to accept this reality. When will this back and forth between reopening and lockdowns end? It seems unsustainable. Actually…it’s definitely not sustainable.
China’s immigrant population is declining. The demands of living and staying in a country imposing its will so strongly is becoming an increasingly less enticing prospect. Not to mention, to even get into the country as a non-Chinese person is challenging enough, even before Covid. The initially envisaged, rejected and eventual adherence to herd immunity is being pursued elsewhere, but China seems unwilling to accept this as an option.
Will China seal its borders indefinitely until the word ‘Covid’ has been exiled into history? Right now, this seems unimaginable. If China does, however, continue to lose its immigrant population and workforce, do the borders need to be open at all? Historically there is precedent for this ancient landmass closing its borders almost completely. Could that happen now in the 21st century? While unlikely, it is not beyond the scope of possibility and with Xi Jinping approaching his unprecedented 3rd term before beginning his Caesar-esque dictator perpetus, nothing is unrealistic.
