‘Everything Is Bitter’: Chinese Phrase Circulates on Social Media Under Zero-COVID

Zero-COVID policy ruins China's position as the world's factory

Workers check Spiderman dolls assembled at the production line of Dongguan Da Lang Wealthwise Plastic Factory in Dongguan, China, on Sept. 4, 2007. Feng Li/Getty Images

“Everything is bitter, but Paris is sweeter” is the English translation of a Chinese phrase circulating on Chinese social media, reflecting the Chinese people’s hardship under the ruling communist regime’s lengthy Zero-COVID policy.

Zero-COVID is a policy of lockdowns enacted on entire cities and regions even when there are only a few cases of COVID-19.