Public patience with zero-covid is wearing thin in China
An earthquake in locked-down Chengdu renews doubts about the policy
The 21m residents of Chengdu faced a tricky decision on September 5th: adhere to the covid-19 lockdown declared by authorities days earlier, or evacuate their homes as a 6.8-magnitude earthquake shook the ground (it killed more than 70 people). In some cases local lockdown enforcers made the choice for them, barring people from leaving even high-rise buildings. Videos of such incidents have circulated online. “I would absolutely trample over anyone blocking me!” wrote one commenter, capturing the public’s mood.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Testing their patience”
From the September 10th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from China
America and China are talking. But much gets lost in translation
How linguistic differences complicate relations between the great powers
It’s a good time to be an astrologer in China
In the face of hardship, the country’s youth are embracing superstition
The early days of the Trump administration, as viewed from China
A good start, but it could get worse quickly
How (un)popular is China’s Communist Party?
As the economy falters and the social compact frays, Xi Jinping wants to know
An outrage that even China’s supine media has called out
Anger is growing over a form of detention linked to torture and deaths
Why foreign law firms are leaving China
A number of them are in motion to vacate