HONG KONG—As Covid-19 sweeps across China following the end of its strict pandemic controls, sparking a run on fever drugs and swamping hospitals, some people in the country are looking to cast blame.
One clear target has emerged: Those who called for opening in rare nationwide protests last month.
“The winter of 2022 is too cold,” read one post with thousands of likes on
the Chinese social-media platform, calling the protesters the “dregs of society.”
“Remember those who banged on the doors and smashed the walls for freedom,” it continued.
China spent close to three years promoting its strict pandemic-control policies as the key to preventing the widespread illness and death that has swept over much of the world. Then the government suddenly dropped many of those restrictions earlier this month in the face of protests, rising infections and a shellshocked economy. On Monday, China said it was ending quarantine for international arrivals, dismantling a travel barrier that had left the country largely cut off from the outside world since early 2020.
The rapid changes have left some citizens bewildered. As overflowing crematoria point to a surge in deaths, some have expressed anger at the swift reversal of the longstanding zero-tolerance approach. Those who called for changes are facing much of the blame, even as those at the top who ordered the changes have remained relatively shielded from criticism.
China dropped many Covid restrictions in the face of protests, rising infections and a slumping economy.
Photo:
Dake Kang/Associated Press
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