Beijing's drastic turn in the fight against covid threatens a new clash between China and the West

China's 180-degree turn in the fight against covid threatens to become a new clash between China and the West.

After the tsunami of infections that has hit the Asian giant for almost a month, when Beijing got rid of the strict zero-covid policy after a spark of social protests, some countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Japan have responded by imposing restrictions on the arrival of passengers from the Asian giant;

The European Union has joined the chorus since Wednesday, by "strongly" recommending to Member States that they require negative coronavirus tests for "all passengers from China."

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) accuses Beijing of little transparency in the numbers of infected and deceased.

Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, insisted this Thursday on Beijing's "close cooperation" with the WHO "over the years".

"The facts have shown that China has always maintained close communication with the WHO and shared information and data on the epidemic in a timely, open and transparent manner, in accordance with the law," the spokeswoman concluded during a routine press conference. almost monopolized by questions about the coronavirus.

Mao has stressed that the situation in the country is "under control" and has called on the Geneva-based health agency to take "a science-based, objective and fair position" in the fight against the pandemic on a global scale.

But the numbers of the autocratic regime are not convincing in the West.

"The Health Security Committee regrets the lack of reliable data on covid-19 in terms of cases, hospital admissions, deaths, as well as ICU capacity and occupancy in China," national experts from EU countries have written in the opinion that has served as the basis for the coordination of measures recommended this past Wednesday.

Despite the words of the Chinese authorities, suspicions about their data have led to a telematic meeting being held this Thursday between the WHO and a medical and diplomatic delegation from the Asian giant to try to dispel them, according to the Reuters agency.

Beijing has also reacted against the anti-pandemic measures established for passengers from China, urging that they be proportional, allow normal travel and avoid discrimination: "They should not be used for political manipulation," Ning stressed in his last appearance.

The same spokesperson, two days before, even warned that her country would apply "corresponding measures in response to different situations, based on the principle of reciprocity."

China, for the moment, continues to impose mandatory quarantines on passengers coming from abroad, one of the last vestiges of the era of zero covid whose days are numbered: after almost three years practically sealed off from the world, it will stop confining the newly arrived from this Sunday, January 8,

The Chinese health authorities have reported this Thursday a single death from covid in the previous day, which adds up to 24 official deaths since December 7, when it turned around the harsh health strategy that involved partial or total confinement of cities in as soon as a few cases were detected, the systematic tracking of infections through technological applications and the isolation in specific centers of those infected.

To date, Beijing has officially recorded 5,259 deaths from covid, a huge distance from other countries.

The data contrasts with the harsh images recorded in hospitals and morgues in megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and they also do not pass the cotton test in a daily conversation with some citizens, who are suspicious of official statistics and seek explanations: "An authoritarian government always seeks prove that their policies are correct”, summarizes a professor at a university in Beijing who requests anonymity.

The data is a "hoax", also asserted a Western health source based in the Chinese capital who knows first-hand the testimony of the country's medical personnel.

On Wednesday, after the WHO Emergency Director accused the Chinese authorities of underrepresenting the numbers of deaths and hospitalizations from the virus, US President Joe Biden also expressed his concern about the situation: "They are very sensitive [ ...] when we suggest that they have not been as forthcoming," he said at an appearance in Kentucky.

Europe, for its part, has opted for a contained approach, while continuing to show its doubts about the figures.

Prudence is observed in the recommendations launched on Wednesday to the EU Member States.

Twenty-seven is advised to ask travelers to use masks and hygienic and sanitary measures.

States are also “firmly” encouraged to require travelers to have a negative covid test done a maximum of 48 hours in advance, something that Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, India already do. and United States.

In addition, it is recommended to carry out random coronavirus tests on passengers upon arrival at airports and control of wastewater from airports and aircraft.

This range of precautions is in line with the recommendations of experts, who consider that in Europe "there will not be a great impact" of the Chinese wave due to the high rates of immunity achieved in Europe by vaccination and the large number of people who have passed the illness.

And, of course, they are very far from those still in force in the Asian giant, which include periods of quarantine and isolation of more than a week in which those who arrive in the country are tested.

Going further now could mean opening a new front with China.

In the European Union, misgivings towards the Asian giant have grown in recent years and this has led to an increase in tensions on various points: one of them is, without a doubt, commercial;

another is the geostrategic one due to the calculated ambiguity towards Russia of Beijing in the invasion of Ukraine, which China has not condemned.

The latter paved the way for the United States this year to convince the other members of NATO, a military alliance that includes 24 of the 27 members of the EU, to target China for the first time in its history as "a challenging " for security.

For Beijing, the potential clash with the West has a simple explanation and is very similar to the manual that it applies to other confrontations, ranging from the technological war with the United States to the rejection of criticism for its position in the war in Ukraine.

“Outside the blinding and deafening bubbles built by certain Western media and politicians with unfounded prejudices and self-invented myths, facts and statistics show that China has weathered waves of COVID-19 outbreaks selectively. and with a scientific basis ”, starts an extensive editorial published on Wednesday by the official news agency, Xinhua.

The article censors that the same people who criticized the country for its previous anti-pandemic strategy of zero covid now also do so for its openness and describes these voices as "self-invented conjectures."

"Maybe it's not about covid politics after all," he adds.

"Maybe it's just a matter of lashing out at China."

Xinhua defends that what has been erroneously described as a "180 degree turn" is actually the result of a "scientific evaluation", which has been based on "prudent planning" and has responded "to the wishes of the population". .

It remains to be seen if he will convince a population that showed its discontent, something unusual in the country, when Xi renewed his mandate and became the country's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

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