North Asia correspondent Michael Smith explains China’s U-turn on COVID-zero, whether it will work and what it means for both the global economy and Xi Jinping’s grip on power.
In late November, a surprising wave of dissent swept across China. After three years of snap lockdowns, mass testing and harsh quarantines to stamp out COVID-19, young people gathered to protest against the restrictions.And then last week, an even bigger surprise. China’s leaders backed down, reversing the COVID-zero policy that had brought the country to breaking point.Australian Financial Review reporter Michael Smith, left, and ABC correspondent Bill Birtles leaving China.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see how this plays out in coming months,” Smith says.“If things go very bad with COVID, and that there’s a huge amount of deaths, and there’s widespread panic, anything could happen in China.” Explore the big issues in business, markets and politics with the journalists who know the inside story. New episodes of
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
COVID is running rampant in China and its hospitals are overwhelmedThe deluge of mostly mild cases has strained health resources and triggered widespread confusion after zero-COVID was abruptly abandoned.
Read more »
COVID rips through China trading desks, banks prep backup plansA sudden uptick in the number of sick traders was one reason behind the drop in onshore yuan-dollar spot volumes to the lowest level since April on Monday.
Read more »
Mother fears for Chinese Covid protester held for nine daysYang Zijing, 25, apparently detained in Guangzhou after taking part in rallies against harsh restrictions
Read more »
Hazzard releases colleague’s texts over alleged COVID handshakeHealth Minister Brad Hazzard has taken an extraordinary step to dispute claims he was a close contact of Adam Marshall’s while the Nationals MP had COVID.
Read more »
Florida governor seeks grand jury investigation into Covid vaccinesRon DeSantis asks state supreme court to investigate undefined ‘wrongdoing’ related to vaccinations
Read more »
WHO warns of tough times ahead for China as it begins to loosen strict COVID rulesA week after China began dismantling its tough 'zero-COVID' controls, the World Health Organization has warned of 'very tough' times ahead.
Read more »