'China will never learn' from coronavirus, says dissident artist Ai Weiwei. 'It doesn't matter what kind of disaster they're facing. The only thing they learn is how well they use this authoritarian power to manipulate the story.'
that the ruling Communist Party's containment tactics have proven the"effectiveness of authoritarian rules," while other countries' inability to control the pandemic has exposed the"disadvantages and malpractices of free and democratic societies."
"The West's blame is very superficial," said Ai."They only talk about China practically -- doesn't release information. But they never ask, 'Why?'" "A number means nothing to them," he said, adding that there's little recognition of the individuals and"deep souls" making up the death toll."In many cases in China, you don't even get the real names or how many people. They are completely lost because the state wants its own image."
According to Ai, history is destined to repeat itself in China if the government won't admit to past mistakes. Maintaining state control may have just been made far easier. During the pandemic, China's authorities developed a color-baseddesigned to track people's movements and curb the spread of the virus. Using mobile technology and big data, unique digital QR codes were assigned to hundreds of millions of citizens, indicating their health status and giving them access to public transportation, restaurants and shopping malls.
Turns out, it was prescient. The production's opening night was postponed just a few weeks out, as the number of cases exploded in Italy in early March."I was shocked," he said."Not because we had to stop the opera, but because my artwork, which I had been preparing for over a year, had clashed with reality."over 177,000. Many of those deaths are experienced alone, in hospital isolation wards away from family members or friends.
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