As China’s political elite gathers, the ghosts of zero-Covid live on
China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature, assembles in Beijing at roughly the same time every year. But this spring, the gathering is timed to perfection. It is the first major political event after the ending of Covid restrictions in December and, as the subsequent wave of infections dies down, it comes at a moment of reopening.
It will nonetheless keep some of the spirit of zero-Covid alive. Journalists who attend its tightly scripted press conferences will need to briefly quarantine beforehand. At an event that deals not in detail but above all in the symbolism of the Chinese Communist party, the fight against the virus cannot be abandoned as abruptly as it was everywhere else.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Thomas Hale
