What China gets wrong
The pandemic, the economy and the war in Ukraine
IT IS OFTEN said that China’s government plans decades ahead, carefully playing the long game as democracies flip-flop and dither. But in Shanghai right now there is not much sign of strategic genius. Even as the rest of the world has reopened, 25m people are in a citywide lockdown, trapped in their apartments and facing food and medical shortages that not even China’s censors can cover up. The zero-covid policy has become a dead end from which the Communist Party has no quick exit.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “What China gets wrong”
From the April 16th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Leaders
More storms are brewing in the South China Sea
A dangerous new stage in the conflict is beginning
How to finish Japan’s business revolution
Tokyo-listed companies have become more friendly to shareholders, but the job is only half-done
America’s election is mired in conflict
Donald Trump’s conspiracy machine is already gearing up for election night
Nigeria’s catastrophic fuel crisis has a straightforward solution
How to scrap a popular yet ruinous subsidy
Mario Draghi’s best ideas are those Europe finds least comfortable
The danger is that it picks the easy ones
The Labour government’s worrying lack of ambition in Europe
Sir Keir Starmer is trapped by the mindset of the post-Brexit years