Dr. Yanzhong Huang is Professor at Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Senior Fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, and co-chair of the US-China Working Group of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. 

He joined Steve Morrison in the our 133rd episode for a wide-ranging conversation: on China’s huge immunity gap; its “dynamic Zero-Covid approach;” the spread of BA-2 beyond Shanghai to 45 cities affecting 25% of China’s population and 40% of its GDP; the acute vulnerability of China’s elderly; and the supply chain disruptions and huge economic consequences experienced inside China and, increasingly, felt across the globe. Deaths are underreported, and popular discontent has risen, even while it remains doubtful that majority opinion has shifted against Zero-Covid.

While the Chinese government has made some modest adjustments to its fierce reliance on mass lockdowns, testing and quarantining, it has not fundamentally changed course. “Zero-Covid will continue.” Opposition is at the highest level -- at the Presidency itself: “the barrier is political.” It remains unclear when if ever the government will move to a mass campaign using a Western mRNA vaccine, a key step to creating immune protection and easing reliance on lockdowns. Successful development of a Chinese mRNA vaccine has thus far been elusive.