Cracks in the Great Wall: Zero-COVID Protests and the Reassertion of Political Security in China

Abstract

This article examines the dynamics of China's political security during the implementation of the zero covid policy, especially during the zero covid policy protest in 2022. By adapting political security theory and qualitative methods, this article concludes that political security for a country will return to all forms of action justified to protect national objects and maintain social stability and its harmonization to strengthen political legitimacy. In maintaining political legitimacy during Covid-19, the Chinese Government continues to show stability in its political security using the strategy of issue framing, mass mobilization, approaches through punishment and reward methods, as well as optimizing the economic sector and nationalism. By using this approach, the Chinese Government successfully maintains the stability and control of the Chinese Communist Party through trust and performance of the pillars of government legitimacy. Meanwhile, the phenomenon of zero covid policy protests in China contributes as one of the supporting factors and not a determinant factor in China's policy changes towards Covid-19. Therefore, the political dynamics that occur are not the dynamics of the political system, but the political impacts that exist in that time span.