Editor’s Note for Wednesday, Feb 9, 2022

My thoughts today:

“Why the world needs China’s COVID-zero policy” is the title of a new Bloomberg piece by China-based journalist James Mayger, who says that “the alternative is a massive surge in infections and deaths that could bring global supply chains to a halt, sending inflation higher.”

Simply put, China’s health care system could not cope with a coronavirus surge, and if China’s hospitals were overwhelmed, its supply chains would be too. So if you think current shortages in supermarkets from San Francisco to São Paulo and Stockholm are bad, the argument goes, you better hope that Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 sticks to COVID-zero.

Xi and his government intend to do exactly that, according to the latest missive from Chairman Rabbit 兔主席, the popular pro-establishment blogger whose real name is Rèn Yì 任意, and who is the grandson of noted Communist Party reformer Rèn Zhòngyí 任仲夷.

The awkwardly-spelled Pekingnology newsletter has translated a blog post by Chairman Rabbit, as part of a “vigorous explanation and defense of the Chinese policy so far [and] an estimation and advice on China’s next step on COVID-19.”

The message is very clear: Despite much criticism abroad, and more muted but ongoing complaints at home, China’s COVID-zero policies are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Our word of the day is Chairman Rabbit (兔主席 tù zhǔxí).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief