Comments by "Twomix" (@twomix1822) on "Beijing Doubles Down on Zero COVID...and Lockdowns" video.

  1. One of the trending topic in Chinese social media is nowadays is "Run Xue" (润学). Due to pervasive censorship in PRC social media PRC netizens often uses code words (a mix of English/Chinese homophones) in order to confuse and evade the censors. "Run Xue" is one of them and it means "to escape and study abroad" (润 sounds like the english word "Run" while 学 means "to study" usually referring to study aboard) . Many young Chinese don't see much future with the way the PRC economy is heading so they try to escape abroad to find jobs and a new life if they could afford it under the pretext of studying abroad (it's actually pretty hard for many Chinese to leave their own country). Unlike most countries, PRC citizens needs permission from the government to leave China. From what I am hearing the PRC government has started to crackdown on issuing/renewing passports unless there is an absolute need. Most of those capable of escaping tends to be the wealthy or upper middle class PRC nationals.
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  2. If China let COVID rip.. I estimate the death count from COVID deaths would reach 10-20 million people dead just in China alone. The refusal to import US MRNA vaccine however is completely a political decision. The idea was, modern China is now as capable as the United States in creating a MRNA vaccine except the reality is they are not. The US being able to create a viable vaccine within 1 year span of time is nothing short of a medical miracle (most vaccines take 2-5 years to formulate). PRC could make one given time that is why they are buying time for themselves with the draconian lockdown. They see it as a nationalistic pride ("We don't need the US for vaccines.") as to allow US vaccine import would acknowledge that the PRC isn't as capable as the US and that would probably be the end of the Xi regime.
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