China expert warns death toll from Shanghai's lockdown will be 'far greater' than lives saved
Shanghai locked down more than 25 million residents after a surge in positive COVID-19 cases.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Steve Mosher, author of ‘Bully of Asia,’ warned that Shanghai’s recent lockdown to stop rising COVID-19 cases would ultimately have a much greater cost on lives than those saved from the virus.
Shanghai locked down more than 25 million residents after the city reported more than 22,000 new COVID cases in one day. The lockdown is a result of China’s "zero-COVID" policy.
SHANGHAI RESIDENTS RECORDED SCREAMING FROM APARTMENTS AFTER SEVEN DAYS OF LOCKDOWN
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You’re never going to stamp out a highly infectious respiratory virus that spreads so easily," Mosher said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday. "The rest of the world has realized this."
Mosher explained that some Shanghai residents are unable to leave their homes and are struggling to get food.
A worker in protective gear holds a sign which reads "Do not crowd" during a mass testing day for residents in a lockdown area in the Jingan district of western Shanghai Monday, April 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Chen Si) (AP)
"What are they doing in Shanghai?" he asked. "I guarantee when they finally go into some of these apartments where people have been locked up for three or four weeks, they're going to find dead bodies of people who've starved to death, people who have died of strokes and heart attacks."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said the death toll from the lockdown will likely be greater than the number of lives saved from COVID-19.
Mosher pointed to politics as a driving factor behind China’s continued pursuit of strict COVID measures, saying the past efforts would be "in vain" if it stops enforcing lockdowns now.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Everything you did in the past was a mistake, so admit it and move on," he said to host Brian Kilmeade. "But they won’t because politicians never like making a mistake."
He went on to explain that Shanghai is being used to show the power and control the Chinese government holds over the people.
"By locking down 26 million people in Shanghai, you’re telling the other 1.4 billion people, ‘We’re in charge. We’re the Chinese Communist Party. We can do whatever we want with your lives,’" he said.
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"President Xi Jinping wants to be president for life, and the Shanghai faction is fighting it," Mosher said. "Well, guess what? Shanghai is now locked down."