Letter from China: Anger erupts at Covid policy

The revolt against zero-Covid is significant but is unlikely to sway Beijing this winter

Large-scale protests against the zero-Covid policy erupted across China in late November, from the capital Beijing and financial hub of Shanghai to Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Xi’an and Wuhan. The sometimes-violent protests—unthinkable a month ago—underline rising anger over Chinese president Xi Jinping’s signature policy, which seeks to isolate every infection as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Xi is now in a bind: the growing fury over zero-Covid is clashing against official fears of the virus tearing through the Chinese population—especially those aged 60 and above, as nearly one-in-eight are not fully vaccinated. The protests also come amid surging outbreaks across China—with some 315,000 ca