Beyond Zero COVID: The National Security Implications of China's Pandemic Response

Pandemic prevention workers in protective suits hand out self-tests to a resident in an apartment building that went into lockdown during COVID-19 outbreaks in Beijing, China, December 2, 2022.

Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters

Event Details

Date:	Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Time:	1:00 –2:00 p.m. Eastern

How to Attend

This virtual event is open to staff from the U.S. Department of Defense and the RAND Corporation.

Please register to attend.

About the Event

Three years after it first locked down Wuhan—a city of 11 million inhabitants—China is moving to relax its strict zero-COVID policies. But the country is likely to feel the consequences of those policies for years to come: The zero-COVID policy slowed economic growth and sparked some of the largest protests against the central government in three decades. The lifting of draconian measures likely will result in a surge in cases and potential hospitalizations and deaths. How quickly will China rebound? What might these developments mean for Xi and the Chinese Communist Party? How will these issues affect Chinese foreign policy in the short and medium terms? A team of RAND China experts will unpack the latest developments and draw out the implications for the Department of Defense.

This event is co-sponsored by RAND Project AIR FORCE, the RAND National Security Research Division, and the RAND Army Research Division.