After a wave of violent protests against draconian covid restrictions, the Chinese authorities sharply relaxed quarantine measures, leaving the country unprepared for possible outbreaks of the disease..

For nearly three years, China's leader Xi Jinping has put his political legitimacy and prestige at zero covid-19, writes CNN..

He called himself "

Now, as his costly strategy turns sharply after nationwide protests against it, Xi has gone silent.

Covid testing booths and various barriers are being dismantled across the country at breakneck speed..

As infections spread, authorities abandoned the virus-tracking app and stopped reporting asymptomatic infections altogether (they made up the bulk of official cases in the country).

While the loosening of suffocating restrictions is a welcome relief for many disillusioned with the economic and social costs of zero covid, the abruptness and haphazardness of the process has surprised and dismayed the Chinese..

If earlier their daily lives were dictated by state-imposed control of covid, and the fear of the virus was inspired by propaganda throughout the pandemic, now the population is being told that they themselves should be "

In Beijing, residents rushed to stock up on over-the-counter drugs and antigen tests, leading to shortages at pharmacies and online shopping sites.. Streets and malls remain virtually deserted as people stay at home to recover from covid or avoid infection.

As the Chinese capital battles the unprecedented wave of coronavirus on its own, the rest of the country is expected to follow.. All this time, Xi has not made any public statements about the policy reversal and the chaos it has caused..

The top leader was last quoted in state media when he commanded the fight against covid on November 10, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Communist Party. There, he vowed to "

Xi's directives to eradicate the virus and ensure economic stability proved an impossible task for local authorities. Then a deadly fire in an apartment in Urumqi was the last straw, causing collective outrage among the people..

Zero-Covid protests have erupted across the country, posing the biggest challenge to Xi since he came to power.. This was followed by the rapid and large-scale elimination of the zero-COVID regime and a hasty change in propaganda attitudes..

Given the government's obsession with control, it's striking how little it prepared for such an abrupt end to such policies.. The country has not had time to increase the vaccination rate of the elderly, increase the number of resuscitation and intensive care in hospitals, and stockpile antiviral drugs.

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As experts outside of China warn of a bleak winter - according to some studies, covid deaths could top a million - the party's propaganda machine is already depicting China going "

On Thursday, the front page of People's Daily, the party's main mouthpiece, ran a commentary praising the country's fight against Covid over the past three years.. Conclusion: Xi's policy has been " Shanghai's painful two-month lockdown is cited as a notable achievement..

According to the official story, the party - and by extension its supreme leader Xi - is infallible.. But no matter how the party tries to rewrite history and distort the collective memory of the Chinese people, a part of the population will always remember their life experiences during the "

The frustration of not leaving your home for weeks or even months, the despair of losing your job and income, the pain of loved ones being denied emergency medical care due to a draconian lockdown.. For some, trust in government is forever eroded..

" " And in a way, this is one of them,” he said, referring to the suffering of people during zero covid..

Chinese officials, health experts and state media attribute the dramatic retreat to scientific considerations, citing the less lethal nature of the Omicron variety..

But Omicron appeared almost a year ago, and experts say the government has spent a lot of resources and time in recent months on mass testing and building temporary quarantine facilities, instead of vaccinating the elderly or improving the capacity of intensive care units..

Some people who have not been personally affected as much - or who see the consequences as a worthy sacrifice - still support the idea of \u200b\u200b"

Others are afraid. But they are also afraid to ask why the government did not prepare properly before abruptly lifting restrictions.. Instead, they shift the blame to those who called for a reopening - including the protesters who took to the streets to prove their point..

Some experts believe that Beijing needed a political solution to get out of zero covid, and the protests gave it a timely reason..

In addition to an end to the covid lockdown, some protesters also demanded political freedoms and the resignation of the party and Xi - an unimaginable act of political defiance of the country's most powerful and authoritarian leader in decades.

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Blaming local governments and foreign forces is the party's usual response to public dissent.. But by centralizing unprecedented power in his hands, Xi inevitably bears personal responsibility for party policy and its implementation.. And by associating itself so closely with Covid Zero, it is also associated with any potential consequences of an abrupt exit from it..

If a wave of mass infections leads to a sharp increase in deaths, especially among vulnerable elderly people, the party's boast that " Authorities may try to hide the number of Covid deaths (experts have long questioned China's arbitrary standards for counting Covid deaths), but it will be harder to hide long lines and body bags at funeral homes..

So far, Xi has remained silent, as he often does during times of uncertainty, such as during the early days of the Wuhan outbreak and the difficult weeks of the Shanghai lockdown..

For now, Xi appears to be temporarily distancing himself from the 'Covid zero' 180-degree turnaround and switching to foreign policy..