Anti-lockdown protests

Almost three years after the first Covid-19 case was reported from Wuhan, a fresh outbreak of coronavirus is swamping China. In a double whammy, the authorities are struggling to contain not only the surge in infections but also the anti-lockdown protests that are spreading across the country. According to China’s National Health Commission, around 40,000 new Covid cases were reported on Monday, mostly asymptomatic ones. After Shanghai and Nanjing, it’s capital Beijing that is witnessing demonstrations against the stringent curbs and the confinement of people in medical shelters, even as the clamour for fixing the accountability of President Xi Jinping is getting louder. A major trigger is the death of 10 persons last week after a blaze engulfed an apartment block in the lockdown-crippled city of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region.

The protests have put Xi, who buttressed his position as China’s supreme ruler last month, in a tight spot. Questions are being raised about the efficacy of his zero-Covid policy, which has adversely impacted the world’s second-largest economy. China’s annual growth forecasts are being downwardly revised to an abysmal 3 per cent, well below India’s GDP projections of 6-7 per cent. The world at large has learnt to live with the virus and lifted most of the restrictions, but China is hell bent on using strong-arm tactics, which are proving to be counterproductive.

Many countries have been hit by the disastrous effects of Covid-induced curbs. In India, the two-month-long national lockdown, imposed in 2020, rendered millions jobless and led to a chaotic reverse exodus of migrant workers from cities to villages. Learning a bitter lesson from this experience, India tried to ensure minimum disruption of economic activity when the devastating second wave struck in April-May 2021. The extensive vaccination programme has helped in drastically reducing the number of severe cases. Phased unlocking has enabled Indian economy to get back on track slowly but steadily. China needs to urgently review its zero-Covid policy and move towards reopening, besides intensifying its vaccination drive. A brutal crackdown on protesters will only worsen the situation.

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