Shanghai; Pelosi to Taiwan; Common Prosperity; NATO and the Asia-Pacific
The situation in Shanghai remains grim and it is getting harder to see how the lockdown ends quickly. Xi’an, dealing with a Delta outbreak last December, locked down for about three weeks. I hope Shanghai can move faster, but one thing that seems apparent since Sun Chunlan arrived over the weekend is that the Shanghai officials did not realize how far behind the virus they had gotten.
Food logistics and provision of medical services are still problems, but they will likely be much improved by the weekend, as the arrival of help from other provinces and the PLA, the oversight by Sun Chunlan, and the mobilization of all Party members in Shanghai starts to make a difference.
But it is going to time more time than anyone would like.
We should also expect to start seeing more “positive energy” reports about the anti-epidemic work in Shanghai, and a crackdown on “rumors” and “negative energy” posts and reports. There is a playbook for this.
Today’s Essential Eight:
Shanghai outbreak
Nancy Pel…