China is desperate to control COVID chaos

The China Letter: January 9, 2022

We’re back with stories to explain the current condition of China, including continued uncertainty surrounding the Beijing Olympics—now coalescing with two years of using COVID-19 as justification for the government to tighten control.

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Driving new backlash

Reuters @Reuters

Tesla's announcement that it has opened a showroom in Xinjiang has attracted criticism from U.S. rights and trade groups, making it the latest foreign firm caught up in tensions related to the far-western Chinese region reut.rs/3pQCVmp

Criticism was personally directed at billionaire Elon Musk upon the opening of a Tesla automotive showroom in the city of Urumqi right after U.S. president Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law. Forced labour from the Xinjiang region is also suspected as a factor in making Beijing Olympics merchandise.

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Olympic realities looming

The Spectator World @TheSpectator

It's simple: "Potential viewers of these Olympics must register their protest by simply refusing to watch."

spectatorworld.comThe China Olympics are a moral failing - The Spectator WorldThere are even questions as to whether merchandise was fashioned with forced labor. The West needs to respond.

The speculation continues about whether the Beijing Olympics will go ahead as planned with participation from international athletes whose leaders announced a diplomatic boycott in December. But the International Olympic Committee says the Games will go ahead as planned notwithstanding more health anxieties.

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Lockdowns control life

The Associated Press @AP

China reported a major drop in local COVID-19 infections in the northern city of Xi’an, which has been under a tight lockdown for the past two weeks. With the Beijing Olympics looming, China is doubling down on measures to prevent any sort of an outbreak. 

apne.wsChina reports major drop in virus cases in locked-down Xi’an | AP NewsTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China on Wednesday reported a major drop in COVID-19 infections in the northern city of Xi’an, which has been under a tight lockdown for the past two weeks that has sharply disrupted the lives of its 13 million residents.

Disrupting the lives of 1.3 million residents of Xi’an was reportedly effective for its purpose of dropping coronavirus case counts in a move described as necessary to rid China of COVID-19 before the Olympic athletes arrive. Now, three confirmed cases in the central city of Yuzhou has led its 1.2 million residents to be forced to stay home. Food shortage stories are becoming increasingly common:

BBC News (World) @BBCWorld

The messy cost of China's Covid lockdown in Xi'an

bbc.inXi’an: The messy cost of China’s Covid lockdown playbookWith stories of starvation and deaths, has anything been learnt from two years of strict measures?

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No pressing forward

Axios @axios

Hong Kong's Citizen News, an independent online news outlet, announced it will close days after a separate pro-democracy media outlet was shuttered last week.

trib.alIndependent Hong Kong news outlet closes amid crackdown on press freedomsCitizen News is now at least the third independent Hong Kong news outlet to close in a matter of months.

The first days of 2022 marked the last days for Citizen News, the third Hong Kong outlet to recently close amongst a crackdown that also claimed the non-profit Stand News. Meanwhile, staff of the shuttered Apple Daily are facing new sedition charges along with already jailed owner Jimmy Lai, as Beijing keeps tightening its grip on Hong Kong.

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Lousy new propaganda

A parody video produced by Chinese state media outlet Xinhua News Agency drew international attention for mocking the U.S. and U.K. crackdown on Huawei, which is still arguing for access into Canada’s fifth-generation cellular network. “James Pond” is the name of the male agent awkwardly trying to portray Americans as hypocritical:

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The China Letter is produced by the Canadian Freedom Institute, a think tank based in Canada. We produce the China Letter every week to keep you informed and to press the ideas of free markets and free people not only in China but around the world. Please consider donating to keep this newsletter running!