The heavens fall when a country is led by an egoistic and incompetent dictator. Nothing illustrates this better than China. The Communist country led by its President Xi Jinping has been facing a severe power crisis. Chinese households are facing blackouts while Chinese factories are shutting down due to a lack of electricity supply. And now Xi Jinping’s woes are set to worsen as his country also faces the risk of a massive COVID-19 outbreak.
China hiding a new COVID-19 outbreak
As per leaked internal documents accessed by the Chinese Epoch Times, the communist country has asked local authorities to prepare for a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak.
A document, titled “Notice of Further Strengthening of Epidemic Prevention” was reportedly issued by China’s State Council, and forwarded by the Fujian provincial government to local authorities on September 30.
Another document described as “National Day Epidemic Prevention Notice” was issued by the State Council on October 1 and it too was distributed by the Fujian provincial officials to local authorities.
Both the leaked documents were marked “extra urgent.” The two notices reportedly advised enhanced preparations for an emergency response to a fresh COVID-19 outbreak. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ordered the construction of central isolation sites. The local authorities are repeatedly required to establish isolation centres and rooms of not less than 20 rooms per 10,000 people by the end of this month. Each isolation centre is required to consist of at least 100 rooms.
China ill-prepared for a fresh Coronavirus outbreak
According to available data, the population of Fujian Province in 2020 was 41.54 million. As of September 19, the Chinese province had set up a total of 35,691 quarantine rooms in 296 central sites. However, given the standards prescribed by the CCP, the Fujian Province needs to build a minimum of 83,000 quarantine rooms by the end of this month, which translates into around 47,000 more rooms. This reflects how bad the situation in China could be.
Dr Sean Lin, a former virology researcher at the U.S. Army Research Institute, has been quoted by The Epoch Times as saying, “This reflects the CCP’s concern about the rise of the epidemic. It must have been concealing the true epidemic in mainland China, otherwise it would not suddenly issue a national notice of emergency preparedness.”
Xi using the Pandemic for political crackdowns
The Chinese economy is in tatters and the Communist country is staring right into a fresh health emergency. Yet, Xi Jinping is prioritising his political crackdowns. The “Notice of Further Strengthening of Epidemic Prevention” reportedly mandates setting up a layer of five control systems.
The notice states, “Township and street CCP cadres, community grid staff, grassroots medical workers, police, and volunteers shall jointly implement community epidemic prevention.” The notice also provides mechanisms of tightening epidemic prevention including strict implementation of community prevention and control or locking down residential communities.
Lin believes that the five-layered control system is meant to tighten social management in local areas, and “the CCP’s purpose is to tighten control.”
The former virology researcher said, “If there is no nucleic acid test, all the CCP’s epidemic prevention measures are the same as political campaigns. For example, you can be quarantined at any time and put in a quarantine site. And the quarantine sites can also be a place of political persecution.”
Dr Lin added, “No matter who you are, as long as the CCP says that you tested positive in a nucleic acid test, it will deprive you of all your rights. The CCP’s quarantine sites are actually an alternative form of concentration camp.”
A fresh COVID-19 outbreak will hit the Chinese economy
Over the past two months or so, the Chinese economy has faced some unprecedented setbacks. First, the Evergrande crisis and the bursting Chinese real estate bubble crashed the Communist nation’s markets and economy. Then, the Chinese coal and power crisis led to blackouts and a downturn in manufacturing activity all across China.
The last thing that China would have wanted now is a health emergency. In all likelihood, China will hide any new COVID-19 outbreak, just like it had hidden the one that broke out in Wuhan almost two years ago. If China creates another health crisis for the world, then it will face a severe backlash and would almost certainly get cut off the world economy.
Also, wide containment measures in China are likely to pressurise its bleeding domestic market even further and cause further damage to its bruised economy. Amidst power outages and factory shutdowns, China is therefore bracing for another disaster- a massive Coronavirus wave.