The Chinese government announced major changes (Bloomberg) to its COVID-19 response, easing the harsh approach known as zero COVID in the wake of protests last month. People with mild symptoms will be allowed to isolate at home (SCMP) rather than at quarantine centers, health passes will no longer be needed to enter public venues or travel domestically, and residential complexes with COVID-19 cases will no longer be completely sealed off.
Beijing will also accelerate vaccinations among the elderly, tens of millions of whom are not fully vaccinated. Still, a continued easing of virus controls could lead to as many as twenty thousand daily deaths (FT) from COVID-19 by mid-March, according to Wigram Capital Advisors.
Analysis
“China’s leaders must urgently shift gears. They should rapidly scale up access to more effective—including foreign—vaccines that target the Omicron variant and anti-viral treatments; launch a nationwide vaccination campaign…; limit hospitalization to the most severe cases to reduce the strain on health care; and ditch the alarmist ‘people’s war’ rhetoric,” CFR’s Yanzhong Huang writes for the New York Times.
“Even without a spike in severe disease, a wide-ranging outbreak is likely to put immense strain on China—which may weigh heavily on its economy and residents for years to come,” the Atlantic’s Katherine J. Wu writes.
Europe
German Police Arrest Group Accused of Planning to Overthrow Government
Police arrested twenty-five people (FT), including former military members, with links to a domestic terrorist group that was allegedly planning a violent coup. A former lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was among the detainees (NYT).
Hungary: Amid a nationwide gasoline shortage, the government abandoned a fuel price cap (Bloomberg) intended to shield Hungarians from rising prices triggered by the war in Ukraine. On Monday, Hungary’s central bank chief warned that the country was on the brink of an economic crisis.
Pacific Rim
European Union Escalates Trade Disagreement With China
The European Commission said it requested the formation (Reuters) of adjudicating panels at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to examine disagreements with China over patents and Chinese restrictions on trade with Lithuania.
Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai told anti-government demonstrators that he launched an investigation (Bloomberg) into the alleged theft of $120 million worth of coal from a state-owned mining company.
Pakistan: Election authorities began an attempt to remove (Al Jazeera) former Prime Minister Imran Khan as the head of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, saying he failed to correctly declare gifts received from foreign dignitaries.
Middle East and North Africa
China’s Xi Begins State Visit to Saudi Arabia
The three-day visit is expected to yield a “strategic agreement” (The Guardian) between China and Saudi Arabia. Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to meet Arab heads of state and business leaders in the capital, Riyadh.
U.S./Saudi Arabia: A U.S. federal judge dismissed a case (CNN) against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after the White House determined that bin Salman qualified for immunity.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Police Arrest Top Malawian Anti-graft Official
The head of Malawi’s anti-graft office, Martha Chizuma, had charged (FT) Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima with taking bribes days earlier. Chizuma was charged with prejudicing judicial proceedings and then released on bail.
DRC: The March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group said it was ready to withdraw (AFP) from an area it occupied in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and pursue peace talks with the government. Ongoing talks do not currently include a representative of the group.
Americas
Argentine Vice President Sentenced to Six Years in Jail for Corruption
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was sentenced in relation to public contracts issued during her 2007–2015 tenure as president and will be banned (MercoPress) from running for public office again. She vowed to appeal but yesterday said she would not run for office (MercoPress) in 2023.
Canada: The United Nations’ biodiversity conference kicked off yesterday (UN News) in Montreal. It is expected to produce a new international framework to protect ecosystems, plants, and animals.
With over 95 percent of votes counted, incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock led his Republican challenger (NYT) Herschel Walker by more than two percentage points.
