Last week, public protests erupted in China over the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s strict “zero COVID” lockdown policies. These protests piqued the interest of international media. Videos recorded on smartphones made their way to Twitter and other social media platforms, much to the risk of citizens, some of whom were taken into custody or even physically assaulted by the authorities.
The protests, which follow an incident in which Chinese citizens under lockdown were unable to escape an apartment fire, have forced several international media outlets, global health experts, and government officials to walk a tightrope over their own past support for the “zero COVID” theory. This pandemic management approach centers on support for the strictest of lockdowns. Supporters include the Canadian government and pro-government media outlets that condemned the vaccine mandate trucker protests last year. Indeed, the convoy drivers were all but labeled domestic terrorists for slowing commerce.
Then there’s Dr. Anthony Fauci, who appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Thanksgiving weekend. Fauci was not asked for his opinion on the protests but has endorsed China’s policy in the past. In July, Fauci said that looking back, he would have supported “much, much more stringent restrictions.”
Media institutions also endorsed China’s heavy-handed tactics. The New York Times, for example, wrote, “In a topsy-turvy pandemic world, China offers its version of freedom.” Another headline from the paper of record: “U.S. says virus can’t be controlled. China aims to prove it wrong.” The Washington Post headlined, “The U.S. has absolutely no control over the coronavirus. China is on top of the tiniest risks.” Salon scolded the U.S. strategy, saying, “China eradicated COVID-19 within a month. Why won’t America learn from them?”
The list goes on.
Bruce Aylward, the head of the China mission for the World Health Organization, urged the rest of the world to copy China. Washington Post tech columnist Taylor Lorenz twice endorsed China’s tactics, which have included Chinese law and health enforcement agents welding residents inside their own apartments.
In a recent update, Apple limited the usage of AirDrop in China, a popular way to send data, including photos and videos, as protests grew in size. The tech firm is reportedly considering dropping the Twitter application from its online store altogether.
Top line: The tragic situation in China now puts Western elites in a box of their own making. Citizens in China face life-or-death consequences for speaking out against the very policies that Western elites tacitly endorsed. Now those elites don’t appear to know what to say.
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Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.
