Protests broke out last week in the city of Wuhan over drastic cuts to healthcare subsidies. An unusual protest, driven mostly by retirees against the Municipal government in Wuhan, resulted in nearly ten thousand Chinese citizens sieging the city government, vowing to return in 10 days with much larger numbers and eventually receiving capitulation from local officials.
In light of this, Miles Yu and Wilson Shirley reflect on the glaring issues within the PRCs healthcare system writ large, and in particular, how decades of the One Child Policy and the bleak outlook for today’s Chinese youth places enormous stress on the system’s capacity to care for the elderly. They discuss how the Wuhan government's decision to cut costs points to larger economic issues for the PRC, as local governments who were previously bearing the brunt of Zero-covid costs are now running troubling deficits, and it is unclear whether the central government plans to bail them out. They then turn to discuss the "Hong Kong 47" standing trial under accusations of subversion under the National Security Law and reflect on the history of Hong Kong and its place in relation to the PRC and the world. Finally, Miles and Wilson reflect on the inspiring show of bipartisanship from the House of Representatives in response to the CCP's recent violation of U.S. sovereignty.
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