(1/x) Many Chinese cities adopting aggressive lockdown policies to combat coronavirus. Include: tough controls on mobility & collection of personal information. In Wuhan, mass shelters too.
Definitely worth seeing if Party specifically drawing on recent policies in Xinjiang...
Definitely worth seeing if Party specifically drawing on recent policies in Xinjiang...
(2/x) Note: Xi Jinping's call for a "people's war" on the virus sounds similar to that back in 2014 for a "people's war on terror" in Xinjiang.
The latter definitely unlocked the ability for local officials to pursue much more aggressive (and repressive) measures.
The latter definitely unlocked the ability for local officials to pursue much more aggressive (and repressive) measures.
(3/x) And I also have the sense that virus lockdown policies have:
a) gotten much tougher within just the last few days, and
b) are spreading to a much wider number of provinces and cities
a) gotten much tougher within just the last few days, and
b) are spreading to a much wider number of provinces and cities
(4/x) All of that would be explained by coordinated national pivot to treating virus as comprehensive security threat (my guess - the Feb. 3 Politburo Standing Committee meeting) at which virus # made pre-eminent target for Party cadres, even at expense of economic consequences.
(5/x) My guess is:
a) that happened in some form, and
b) that has now pushed Party authorities in province after province to pivot heavily to the public security/social stability apparatus in responding to virus outbreak.
a) that happened in some form, and
b) that has now pushed Party authorities in province after province to pivot heavily to the public security/social stability apparatus in responding to virus outbreak.
(6/x) If true, big risks.
Here's one: in their zeal to hit "no more virus" target, local authorities might start preemptively detaining anyone w/symptoms (say, fever) - and not in medically-approved, carefully planned manner, but in hasty mass roundups that amplify virus spread.
Here's one: in their zeal to hit "no more virus" target, local authorities might start preemptively detaining anyone w/symptoms (say, fever) - and not in medically-approved, carefully planned manner, but in hasty mass roundups that amplify virus spread.
(7/x) Naturally, I hope that I'm totally off-base with all of that.
But my gut tells me all that is consistent w/the internal logic of how the Party's bureaucracy would rumble forward if Beijing has decided (as is likely) to treat this as a major social stability challenge.
But my gut tells me all that is consistent w/the internal logic of how the Party's bureaucracy would rumble forward if Beijing has decided (as is likely) to treat this as a major social stability challenge.
