China Fortifies Its Borders with a ‘Southern Great Wall,’ Citing Covid-19

February 3, 2022

(Wall Street Journal) – The avowed purpose is to fight the spread of Covid-19 by limiting the entry of traders, workers and smugglers. The Southern Great Wall, people on social media are calling it. State media outlets have dubbed it the Anti-Covid Great Wall. While some other countries try to transition toward living with Covid-19, China determinedly maintains a zero-Covid strategy, especially with the Beijing Winter Olympics starting this week. It does so not only through lockdowns and mass testing but also, increasingly, by walling off its neighbors. The strategy means that along China’s long southern border, life is changing in ways likely to last long beyond the pandemic, with trade getting cumbersome and with control of people’s movements tightened. (Read More)