Zero-covid and Xi Jinping’s deal with the devil

4 min read 30 Nov 2022, 08:59 PM IST HOLMAN W. JENKINS ,JR. , The Wall Street Journal

China’s lockdown strategy was aimed at helping a new Mao consolidate power.

Vladimir Putin has a rival for most obtuse authoritarian. Or perhaps it’s no contest at all. Mr. Putin can always plead contingency. The outcome of his Ukraine gambit couldn’t be known until it was tried. Xi Jinping has no excuse for not knowing that a highly contagious, flu-like virus would have to be accepted as a fact of life.