<story><title>China state CCTV avoids crowd close ups at the World Cup</title><url>https://twitter.com/billbirtles/status/1596935475725406208</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>DriftRegion</author><text>Yeah. When people in mainland China saw all the unmasked foreigners at The World Cup it spawned a lot of ideation. I&amp;#x27;ll summarize the ideas I&amp;#x27;ve seen floating around the Chinese internet:&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s a money-making scam by the COVID test manufacturers&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s a money-making scam by the temporary quarantine center manufacturers&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s a failure of bureaucracy ”层层加码”&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s a ploy to increase the depth of state surveillance&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s a ploy to lock people at home and increase the birth rate&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s a ploy to keep the poor poor to ensure that they keep working hard&lt;p&gt;- It&amp;#x27;s to mitigate war with the United States. Apparently the Geneva convention has a clause against going to war with a nation stricken by a pandemic.</text></comment>
<story><title>China state CCTV avoids crowd close ups at the World Cup</title><url>https://twitter.com/billbirtles/status/1596935475725406208</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>hanoz</author><text>What is going on with China&amp;#x27;s continuing zero-covid policy? Either it&amp;#x27;s the most expensive face saving exercise the world has ever seen, or they know something about it that we don&amp;#x27;t.</text></comment>