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'I’m not a China expert, and I have no idea where this is going. As far as I can tell, actual China experts don’t know, either. But I think it’s worth asking what lessons we can draw from China’s journey from would-be role model to debacle.
Crucially, the lesson is not that we shouldn’t pursue public health measures in the face of a pandemic. Sometimes such measures are necessary. But governments need to be able to change policy in the face of changing circumstances and new evidence.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/opinion/china-covid-autocracy-democracy.html
@cyrilpedia the reluctance to change path is a huge problem. Governments seem afraid to lose face, and they apper to think a change of path will be viewed by the public as though the government was "wrong" as opposed to thinking that due to new data a path correction is justified.
This leads to governments (in this instance China) doubling down on policies that the data prove are suboptimal.