Is the era of free movement for Chinese citizens coming to an end?
According to the Quartz News on May 16, For people in China, being able to travel abroad is a freedom that wasn’t granted to them until the 1990s, when late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms prompted the country to open up to the outside world. But with the arrival of the pandemic, this freedom to travel has vanished at an alarming speed.
China was able to bring covid-19 under control early in 2020, allowing for a relatively normal life within the country. But the spread of the more contagious omicron this year brought back draconian domestic measures, including a lengthy lockdown in Shanghai. Despite growing domestic and global criticism of China’s zero-covid policy, Chinese president Xi Jinping this month emphasized the need for officials to stick with and defend Beijing’s approach.
