WASHINGTON — 

With the announcement of the "New Ten Rules", China's three-year strict new crown "clearing" policy seems to have come to an end. However, with the liberalization, the increase in the number of cases will be inevitable. Whether China's current medical resources can cope with these challenges is a topic of discussion among some Western observers. Others are concerned about how the Chinese authorities will describe the ordinary people who lost their lives due to extreme prevention and control measures in the past three years in future propaganda, and whether will they be responsible for their passing?


Chinese authorities announced ten new prevention and control measures on Wednesday (December 7), including not allowing temporary closures of communities and streets and not checking health codes except in special places such as institutions for the elderly and children. The outside world generally believes that although there is no official announcement, the "New Ten Articles" means the official end of "clearing".


Stephen McDonell, the BBC's China correspondent, wrote: "I just interviewed people on the street (of the epidemic prevention policy) change. The atmosphere in Beijing is really relaxed and happy. Finally, the Chinese can see the tunnel The end of the light."


However, in the past three years, China has concentrated its resources on maintaining "clearing" and has not prepared for the medical needs after opening up. Some experts believe that the sudden "lying down" may lead to a large number of hospitalizations and deaths.


Citizens of Beijing line up for a nucleic acid test in front of a slogan wall promoting Xi Jinping Thoughts.  (December 5, 2022)

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James Palmer, deputy editor-in-chief of the US "Foreign Policy" magazine, is also worried about China's possible difficulties in the future: "I think at this point we can say that the 'clearing' policy is over. The next stage may be A pretty bad covid case wave (although not as bad as it might be in 2020) and an ill-prepared healthcare system."


And when the number of cases climbs, whether local officials in China will report truthfully is another point of concern. Carl Minzner, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, asked: "Wouldn't that cause political trouble for Xi Jinping (who declared victory over the new crown in 2020) by accurately reporting a large number of cases? If not reporting, wouldn’t that fuel the fear among many Chinese that the epidemic is actually worse than what the Beijing authorities allow to announce?”


Zhang Taisce, a professor at Yale Law School, pointed out concerns about economic recovery: "The worry is that (opening up) comes too late to save the economy. Maybe the production chain has left irretrievably, the real estate market has sunk irretrievably, domestic consumption Irreparably hurt."

Another thing that makes observers curious is how Beijing will be responsible for the people who lost their lives because of the "zero" epidemic prevention measures. Chenchen Zhang, assistant professor of international relations at Durham University, wrote: "In 2020, the Chinese government responded by suppressing anger and mandating mourning, establishing a national day of mourning and turning Li Wenliang into an officially recognized 'martyr' . . . In 2022, public dissatisfaction turns to offline protests. So far we have seen the easing of restrictions and brought the end of the 'clearing' policy. But the government is unlikely to recognize those lost due to the new crown policy Life. The 'Necropolitics' here dictates whose life deserves to be mourned, and which ways of mourning can and cannot be included in nationalist projects."


"New York Times" columnist Yuan Li also said: "(The end of 'clearing') is a victory for the brave protesters. But we still don't know the names of the 27 people who died in the bus accident, and the 10 who died in the bus accident. The names of those who were in the fire, and the many, many names of those who did not receive medical attention or who committed suicide."