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Point Of Pride
The West tried to give Xi Jinping the vaccines he needed to help protect 1.4 billion Chinese from the deadly viral pneumonia that sprang up in Wuhan three years ago, but he wouldn't take them. Now, it's too late.
That's a deliberately oversimplified version of a longer, more nuanced, tale, but presenting it in such stark terms helps make the case: For all his claims to the moral high ground during the pandemic, Xi ultimately put autocratic pride before his own people.
Beijing justified keeping
I’ve read a theory elsewhere that Xi is ultimately preparing his people for war. It’s not a ridiculous notion to assume that putting his people through this horrible tragedy wouldn’t make them easier to galvanize against some “other” like Taiwan later.
The Chinese have a relatively large middle class that has traveled extensively to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea etc. Unlike the Russians ( excluding oligarchs and the wealthy), the Chinese are somewhat worldly and most likely have a balanced perspective on Xi and China at large- both the country of China and the Chinese Communist Party.
Ultimately, what is good for the CCP is not necessarily good for the Chinese people and what is good for the Chinese people is not necessarily good for fir the CCP.
Another asshole who can’t retire….Watch out
There was a New Yorker Q & A with a China expert on this topic. I think it came out in Dec 2022. I believe this particular expert’s opinion was that there was a lot of domestic money to be made in the medical industry with the constant testing.
Prior to mass unrest including demonstrations at a number of universities, it very much appeared that China was ready to persist with the COVID zero policy. The CPC certainly boxed itself in with their unwillingness to embrace mass vaccination with Western-developed mRNA vaccines. However, the collapse of COVID zero came quite suddenly when it became clear that the government could not quell the upswell in lockdown-related unrest without an overwhelmingly violent response. As such, by December, I doubt that Xi had any good options left.
Given how calculating and cynical the CPC is, it’s also worth noting that the vast majority of deaths is among the elderly (living on government pensions). The potential emergence of a new variant(s) is probably not a critical factor to Xi other than as another PR hit (which China has managed to produce in various sizes with great regularity since Xi has taken control).
Three doses of Sinovac have about the same efficacy as the mRNA vaccines. The problem is the low vaccination rates in the elderly.
I’m not sure I buy the Sinovac stats.
I mean, not in an anti-vax sense, obviously. I’d get a Sinovac shot in a heartbeat if it were the only available shot. I just wonder why, if two doses and a booster gets you the same protection as the mRNA shots, China is even bothering with the mRNA production and why the West would be going through the trouble to offer Xi the mRNA vaccines and why Germany sent the mRNA shots to German nationals in China, and so on. In other words: If a three-shot Sinovac course works just as well that’s fantastic, but I just wonder why all the trouble if that’s the case.
With Xi being dictator for life he can afford to make these kinds of mistakes. It also shows how not having a free press can allow you to do the most reprehensible things with no accountability. After much thought the highest probability is that the only reason why Xi wouldn’t accept a vaccine developed by the US is because of his pride. Within his echo chamber it must be impossible for him to fathom that another country could develop something better than his scientists. Being that he is an atheist so the only thing that matters is his pragmatism. It is clear to me that since the elderly with their pensions are only sucking from the system, Xi must have made the decision to let them die, sad as that is.
BTW I appreciate your comments about China realizing that if you tried to post any of your comments within China a black windowless van would be showing up on your doorstep to take you away to a reeducation camp.
This atheist-bashing is unwarranted. The only thing atheism could explain here is Xi’s not wasting time on Sunday mornings to listen to creation and life-after-death stories. The religious dogma is replaced by a nationalistic one.
Plenty of christians are callous. There’s a whole party of them.
To what extent was Xi’s choice driven China’s impending demographic emergency?
Their population is graying faster than ours, driven by a combination of the 1-child policy and culture specific sex selection practices. The underlying practices have been halted after several decades but there is no way to avoid the lump as it works its way through the age cohorts.
If the past-working-age elderly have been, or continue, die at an accelerated rate, is that really such a bad thing for the Party?