Really like your #3 theory:  Lockdown is useful political theatre to the CCP.

This might apply to the US as well.   Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

247bf84fda

A hardline communist like Xi Jinping, who spent time in a forced labor camp as a youth, isn’t about to lose sleep over some bankers in Shanghai missing a few meals. On the contrary, China’s top leaders are more inclined to see the lockdown as character building; a lesson to the rich kids that sacrifice to the Party comes first, and a reminder to the people all across China that they really are all in this together.

Does the Shanghai Lockdown Absolve the Chinese Communist Party?

https://michaelpsenger.substack.com/p/does-the-shanghai-lockdown-absolve

bitcoin

Why is Shanghai in a total lockdown ?

Here are some other theories:

> 1. The Shanghai lockdown keeps the idea of virus containment alive.
> 2. The Shanghai lockdown reassures western trading partners that China is as dumb as they are.
> 3. The Shanghai lockdown is useful political theatre to the CCP, further binding China’s population to the Party.

> A hardline communist like Xi Jinping, who spent time in a forced labor camp as a youth, isn’t about to lose sleep over some bankers in Shanghai missing a few meals. On the contrary, China’s top leaders are more inclined to see the lockdown as character building; a lesson to the rich kids that sacrifice to the Party comes first, and a reminder to the people all across China that they really are all in this together.

*Does the Shanghai Lockdown Absolve the Chinese Communist Party?* 
https://michaelpsenger.substack.com/p/does-the-shanghai-lockdown-absolve