Image: Wikipedia / Creative Commons Lisence
By Yaruk
In a short video shared on Twitter, Chinese leader Xi said that during the Covid period, he gave all the instructions within the scope of Covid measures.
During the meeting with the head of the World Health Organization, Ghebreyesus, Xi said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to people’s health and then emphasized that he has been personally directing and deploying the pandemic prevention and control work (zero COVID lockdown).
There are voices of dissatisfaction with China’s “Zero Covid” policy across China. Unable to withstand the so-called covid measures exceeding 100 days, Chinese citizens are protesting by taking to the streets. While the public is trying to get their voices heard by the higher authorities, namely Xi and his management team, Xi says he is leading the whole process.
It is meaningful that he said that he personally commanded the process of combating Covid from the very beginning.
So what does Xi want to do?
In October 2022, Xi “won” the re-election by convening the National People’s Congress. Thus, he achieved his goal of staying on the throne until death. Chinese citizens have been wary of Xi’s repressive policies. Xi knew this too well. Xi’s re-accession to the throne further increased the anger of Chinese citizens.
Is Xi using this anger for political ends? Xi may want to root out the citizens that want to oppose him by using Covid as an excuse. After all, China is an authoritarian country. Freedom of thought and freedom of the press is out of the question. Those who violate these rights face penalties up to death. So, what can be the end of those protesting against the CCP and Xi throughout China this time?
One may wonder why people are on the streets, even when they know the result.