Guangzhou, China (AP photo, South China Morning Post)
The recent protests in China that are not acknowledged by the government nor covered in Chinese media seem to have accelerated China's efforts to move from solely trying to contain Covid-19 to learning to live with the disease. The funeral for Jiang Zemin this coming week, Apple's declared desire to relocate some production out of China to India and Vietnam, and TSMC's proposed chip plants in both Japan and the US may also be playing a role. The last week has seen new press comments from officials that omicron is not as deadly, an announced push to expand vaccination of the elderly, and lessening of certain lockdowns and restrictions. Whether this will turn out to be more talk and not action remains to be seen. It still appears that central government pronouncements suffer from inconsistent implementation, lack of clarity, and confusion at the provincial, regional, and municipal levels.
For more, see "‘China’s Dr Fauci’ calls for change in zero-Covid focus as cities roll back strictest curbs" in the South China Morning Post.
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