☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

How China decides to handle omicron will have global implications – Yanzhong Huang

January 30, 2022
GZERO Staff
How China Decides to Handle Omicron Will Have Global Implications – Yanzhong Huang | GZERO World

The arrival of omicron could be disastrous for China, Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, tells Ian Bremmer in a GZERO World interview.

Xi Jinping's zero-COVID approach faces its toughest test to date; the country lacks mRNA jabs which are more effective against the new variant, and so few Chinese people have gotten COVID that overall protection is very low.

Until it develops an mRNA vaccine of its own, China can expect larger outbreaks because of omicron, leading to more severe lockdowns and, in turn, greater economic disruption.

This will have implications not just for China but for the global economy as well.

Zero COVID currently remains popular with most Chinese people, but if things get really bad, Huang believes China will pivot to living with the virus, especially as the cost of keeping zero COVID in the age of omicron becomes too high.

From Your Site Articles

More from GZERO Media

With a ceasefire on the table, Putin tells his troops to keep fighting

Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses commanders as he visits a control center of the Russian armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia, on March 12, 2025.
Russian Pool/Reuters TV via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise battlefield visit on Wednesday, telling troops in the Kursk region of Russia to “completely destroy” the Ukrainian forces that have occupied parts of the area for nearly seven months.

Is the DRC on the path to peace?

Protesters hold Democratic Republic of Congo flags during a march to voice concerns about issues regarding the recent conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, February 7, 2025.
REUTERS/Esa Alexander

On Tuesday, Angola offered to mediate an end to the conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

What happened at the UN Biodiversity Summit in Rome, and what comes next?

Flags hung at the reconvening of the COP16 conference in Rome last month, with an inset image of Adrian Gahan, the ocean lead for Campaign for Nature.
María José Valverde and Adrian Gahan

Countries gathered in Rome in late February to finalize key decisions left unresolved after last year’s COP16 summit in Colombia. In Italy, negotiators agreed to the first global deal for finance conservation, which aims to achieve the landmark goal of protecting and restoring 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030. At the conference, Eurasia Group’s María José Valverde interviewed Adrian Gahan, the ocean lead for Campaign for Nature, a global campaign founded in 2018 to safeguard the 30x30 target, as we look ahead to the UN ocean conference in June.

America is souring on Trumponomics. Trump may not care.

Trump in front of a downward trending graph and economic indicators.
Jess Frampton

For someone who campaigned on lowering grocery prices on day one and rode widespread economic discontent to the White House, Donald Trump sure seems bent on pursuing policies that will increase that discontent.

Israel and Lebanon are set for border talks

An Israeli soldier stands next to a gate on a road near the Israel-Lebanon border, in Israel, on March 12, 2025.

REUTERS/Avi Ohayon

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to start talks “as soon as possible” on their disputed land border nearly four months after a ceasefire paused the most recent war between the two countries.

Snubbing Trump, Greenland votes to stick closer to Denmark – for now

A man walks as a Danish flag flutters next to Hans Egede Statue ahead of a March 11 general election in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025.
REUTERS/Marko Djurica

Greenland’s center-right parties trounced the ruling left-wing coalition in Tuesday’s election. In a blow to US President Donald Trump’s plans to annex the Arctic territory, a once-marginal party that favors a slow separation from Denmark is set to lead the next government.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2020 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.