News that caught our eye / The week ending December 30
NOTE: The news reports below are not in chronological order. There is often a time lag in their reaching the US and in gaining our attention. These reports reflect the opinions of a variety of news sources.
Hospitals Inundated As China Scales Back Covid Restrictions / December 27, 2022
Hospitals are being overrun with Covid patients after China released many of its strict zero-Covid policies, inadvertently opening the doors for Covid to spread freely on a population without herd immunity. The actual numbers of patients and deaths are not known—the government stopped publishing those statistics this week (NBC News).
People rush to book travel as borders finally reopen / December 27, 2022
Chinese travel sites experienced a large spike in online traffic after the government announced the opening of outbound travel starting January 8th. However, in response, many countries heightened their Covid travel policies for those coming from China, and China’s refusal to report the number and severity of cases (BBC News).
China’s Xi Jinping tells Politburo to toe party line / December 28, 2022
In a meeting of the Chinese Politburo, the 24 members of the party participated in a “self-criticism session,” assessing their own loyalty to Communism and Xi Jinping’s policies. Xi Jinping gave his critique to each one and mandated that all members devote themselves to these policies above all else (South China Morning Post).
Can Christmas in China survive competition with Mao's birthday? / December 28, 2022
While China has celebrated Mao Zedong’s birthday for decades, since 2017 his December 26th birthday has gained in notoriety—sometimes by force--due to Xi Jinping’s emphasis to promote Chinese Communist culture. Consequently, though, by rejecting Western culture, the country is becoming more monolithic and less multicultural (Nikkei Asia).
Taiwan moves to boost military training / December 27, 2022
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen announced an increase in its mandatorily conscripted military service from 4 months to a year, beginning in January, 2024 in response to China’s recent military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. This marks a shift in policy of Tsai’s more passive administration to one of self-defense (The China Project).
CDC urges Americans to "reconsider" travel to China over COVID surge / December 28, 2022
The CDC is recommending that potential travelers to China “reconsider” their travel plans, citing the recent surge in Covid cases and overwhelmed hospitals in China. Testing would also be required upon one’s return before entering the US. Concerns are growing that new “immune evasive” variants may be forming in China (CBS News).
China’s early reopening could hit supply chains, 2023 outlook is positive / December 29, 2022
While the current Covid surge could interrupt supply chains in China’s sphere of the global market early in the new year, forecasters see a positive growth likely in China’s economy for the rest of 2023 as China exits its era of pandemic policies (CNBC).
Reforms to China’s housing market not helping / December 28, 2022
China brought needed reforms to its housing market in 2020. But those reforms have not made a substantial difference in the affordability of homes (The Business Times).
China is building the world’s largest desert energy installation / December 28, 2022
China is taking another step away from fossil fuels with construction of what will be the world's largest energy project in a desert. The project will have a total capacity of 16 million kilowatts (kW). Twelve million of that will be solar and wind power (Science and Technology Innovation Board).
Chinese hydrogel may repair hearts faster / December 27, 2022
Chinese scientists have created a two-faced hydrogel that has the potential to repair hearts better and faster after an attack (SCMP).
Official: China’s economy has overcome the threat of Covid / December 25, 2022
According to the office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, “China's economy has survived the most difficult phase and the country's optimized COVID-19 response measures will have a positive effect on the economic recovery” (China Daily).
Covid in China: an AP report / December 26, 2022
“Over two days, Associated Press journalists visited five hospitals and two crematoriums in towns and small cities in Baoding and Langfang prefectures, in central Hebei province” (AP).
250 million infected by Covid / December 26, 2022 (CNN)
China to focus more on agricultural technology / December 24, 2022
Chairman Xi Jinping has called for China to achieve self-reliance in agricultural technology. To do this China will increase its effort to develop the right plants and agricultural equipment. China’s central leadership has identified the country's seed industry as a weak link in the food chain (CNA)