On December 7, Xi withdrew his firmly enforced zero-COVID policy, reopening Chinese society. On the surface, it appears that Xi has partially conceded to the demands of the protesters in the “White Paper Movement.” This is exceptionally unusual because, in the past three years, his zero-COVID policy has become the symbol of his sovereignty. It was expected to achieve a great success and ultimately prove that a centralized government is more effective in dealing with a national crisis. Any concession on Xi’s part would weaken his image and threaten his position in the party. Nonetheless, it seems he did partially grant the protesters’ wishes. But the result has been catastrophic. In Part I, I detailed the horrendous conditions after his zero-COVID policy was lifted.

Ushering In a New Pandemic?

Has the lifting of the zero-COVID restriction precipitated the new pandemic?

As expected, those who advocate for the CCP’s rule — nicknamed Xiao Fenhong (Little Pinkos) — jumped to the defense of Xi’s draconian rule, stating that the outbreak proves that Xi’s stringent lockdown and his refusal of co-existence with COVID were both necessary and more effective. However, this minority was met with fierce renunciation on social media. Some quickly pointed out that during the World Cup in Qatar at the end of November, 80,000 people crowded into the stadium without masks. Why didn’t that lead to a mass infection and death? Why is China different?

I found one piece of information helpful in deciphering the mystery behind Xi’s uncharacteristic U-turn.

According to Radio Free Asia, a high ranking official of the CCP secretly contacted them, revealing that the outbreak had already started before Xi loosened the restriction on December 7. At that time, information on the new epidemic was kept secret. Hospitals were forbidden to disclose the growing number of COVID patients.

The WHO also confirmed this CCP official’s statement. “The explosion of cases in China is not due to the lifting of COVID restrictions,” said Michael Ryan, Chief Executive Director of the WHO. “The explosion of cases in China had started long before any easing of the zero-COVID policy.”

Foxconn workers’ swarming exodus in October might be part of today’s outbreak. Unfortunately, the government and its abettors strived to cover it up, urging workers to get back to work. Thus, it wasn’t given serious consideration by the outside world.

In September, the WHO announced that the end of the COVID pandemic was in sight. Ironically, while in other countries COVID cases were dying down and the symptoms became milder, China’s new pandemic had already begun.

The Unsurprising Fiasco of Xi’s Failed Zero-COVID Policy

Why has Xi’s stringent policy failed?

Knowing the history of Marxist regimes, I’m not surprised about Xi’s fiasco. Marxists, being atheists, have an inflated self-confidence. They in general have an unrealistic view about what man is able to accomplish. Mao believed that man can conquer nature. He used to tell Chinese that “Agricultural production is in proportion with man’s pluck.” More audacity on man’s part would result in a more productive yield in the field. Such a view often blinded them to actual conditions, causing them to totally ignore logic and science. Mao’s Great Leap Forward demonstrates this point well.

Like Mao, Xi’s zero-COVID policy is based on the belief that, through a centralized power, man can conquer a disease. Since the CCP is able to manage and control the Chinese people, Xi falsely believes that he can also control the virus. He brought up the notion of co-existing with COVID only to mock the free world regarding their inability to defeat the disease. For him, anything less than zero-COVID would not be acceptable.

Was his policy effective?

His zero-COVID policy had kept Chinese in their apartments for three years. Not able to be exposed to the sun could have weakened people’s immunity. Social isolation, loss of employment, constant fear and a host of other things that cause anguish could also have the same effect on people’s immunity. The domestically produced vaccines and boosters turned out to be a disappointment, yet they were compulsorily enforced. At the same time, constant mass COVID tests forced people to be in close proximity, creating opportunities for the virus to transmit.

The Unstoppable Tsunami Was a Manmade Crisis

Here once again we see the key signature of a Marxist regime showing up repeatedly in history. For a Marxist regime, power and control always preempt reason and efficiency. The government, on the one hand, mandated sheltering at home with extreme measures, such as locking down the exit of an apartment complex. Simultaneously, the government also requires constant mass COVID tests, which created opportunities for the virus to transmit. This may sound bizarre and paradoxical. But for a Marxist dictator, it’s entirely reasonable. He could care less about logic or reason, but demands total obedience. In fact, he enjoys watching people submit to his incompatible rules. It demonstrates a greater degree of subservience.

Thus, weakened immunity, a failed vaccine and close physical proximity at testing centers had created a perfect storm for the virus to evolve and mutate undeterred. Over time, the virus had changed into a new variant that has a shocking infection rate and is more lethal on the human body. It was seeking an opportunity to burst out like water kept in a dam. This might be the reason why this outbreak took place at different locations simultaneously after the restrictions were lifted.

As Mao’s Great Leap Forward created the biggest famine in Chinese history, Xi’s zero-COVID policy has initiated the biggest plague in Chinese history, a manmade crisis.

Xi’s Uncharacteristic U-Turn

Xi must have come to realize that a bigger and unstoppable tsunami was coming, which would prove to the whole world that his zero-COVID approach is a total failure. For him, the most urgent concern was to find a way out. He needed a scapegoat to save his face. The “White Paper Movement” appeared just in time to extricate him from the grand humiliation. Like Nero who accused the Christians of setting fire to Rome, Xi, by consenting to the protesters’ demand of reopening China, placed the blame of the unparalleled number of infections and death on the protesters. That’s why even though winter season is the most injudicious time to lift his restriction, he did it nonetheless.

However, this is not Xi’s only motive. I saw an official document leaked from Wuxi in Jiangsu province. It reads as follows, “The COVID infection rate in Wuxi has only reached 10%. The speed is indeed too slow. We are number 226 in the nation, which does not reflect Wuxi’s status as a model city in the country’s reform and opening-up. Wuxi must work harder to catch up… Without widespread infection, there will be no complete recovery (from the pandemic) …”

For a local government official to voice a statement contrary to Xi’s previous zero-COVID goal, he must have already received a direct order from the central government in Beijing. A local government has no power to make its own decision. Its ruling only reflects Xi’s will whether publicly expressed or not.

Clearly Xi has abandoned his old policy and embraced the concept of co-existing with the virus through achieving herd immunity. In the history of the CCP, there have been a few times when the party was forced to temporarily put aside its ideology and adopt its enemy’s beliefs. At the end of the Cultural Revolution, China’s economy was on the verge of collapse. Deng, who despised capitalism, freedom and human rights, initiated the economic reform allowing private ownership of land and companies. He did not advocate capitalism, but used capitalism to save communism.

Facing a Devastated Chinese Economy

Today, Xi faces the same challenge. His zero-COVID lockdown has devastated the Chinese economy. There are many statistics online showing the deteriorating state of the Chinese economy. Some on social media have shared personal experiences that give grave concern. One person related that right now in China banks do not allow people to withdraw cash, or the banks put limits on the amount. It is also difficult to contact banks. Banks have come up with different excuses to avoid interacting with customers. Some speculated that after implementing Xi’s zero-COVID policy for three years, the government had blown through their treasury on building mobile quarantine centers and purchasing testing kits. Consequently, they have no money to run their daily operations and have to force banks to lend them money that belongs to the ordinary Chinese citizens.

Xi does not care about the Chinese economy nor the Chinese people, but not to the extent of risking his reign. Like Deng, Xi was cornered to adopt the “co-existing with COVID” approach that he had loathed. Now his focus is on reaching herd immunity so that he can put COVID behind and revive the Chinese economy in order to continue the CCP’s lingering rule. He did it suddenly without any preparation and at the expense of countless people’s lives.

The popular slogan is “By all means get positive.” Now, Xi’s refusal of Biden’s help from U.S. mRNA vaccines begins to add up. Perhaps in reality, Xi’s new approach is still “zero-COVID.” Only this time it refers to zero-negative.

It’s 2020 All Over Again

In Part I, I demonstrated that the current virus circulating in China does not resemble Omicron. It has a much higher transmission rate and more lethality to the body. However, Beijing just announced that China would reopen its borders at the beginning of 2023 without enforcing any restrictions. This means not only can foreigners come to China, but also Chinese can travel abroad. This gives a chilling déjà vu of January 2020.

It appears that the U.S. government has not grown wiser in dealing with the CCP after the experience in 2020. As of December 28, 2022, the Biden administration’s new restriction on travelers from China is only a proof of a negative COVID test no more than two days before their departure. The Biden administration has not given serious consideration of a simple question. Why does Xi open China’s borders when China is experiencing an unprecedented pandemic outbreak?

Anything less than two weeks’ quarantine would welcome the new CCP virus to sweep through America with lightning speed and bring more devastation on the health of the American people. We also need to recall in the past few years how the government took away our constitutional rights in the name of a pandemic crisis. Will a new pandemic further deprive us of our civil rights?

Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the U.S. and having studied at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor and taught at Christian colleges and seminary. After March of this year, she sensed God was leading her to use her unique voice to provide a warning about various kinds of Marxist influences in our society. She lives in northern California with her husband and has two grown children.