Commentary: The catastrophic success of China’s zero-COVID policy

For two years, it seemed as though China’s ruthless COVID-19 policy had paid off. After stumbling in its initial efforts to stem the pandemic, China’s rulers fixed a simple numeric target — zero COVID cases — and made sure everyone knew they had to reach it. The results looked severe to Western eyes, but they stopped the virus’s spread. They also gave China a propaganda victory, emboldening their claims that authoritarian governments