Current Affairs
February 10, 2023
The Knightly News - Page 6
Ch i na’s Borde r Re op e n i ng Po s e s Unc e r t a i nt y
Photo: Bertha Wang/AP
On Jan. 8, China reopened its land and sea borders for the first time in three years. China’s 1.4 billion inhabitants can finally see their friends and family again. Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2019, China has followed a zero-COVID policy. In order to minimize the number of infections, it has utilized mass testing, government-organized quarantines and strict lockdowns, even if only a couple of cases are detected. These approaches had many drawbacks, however. The many lockdowns have slowly depleted China’s resources, resulting in food shortages. Residents that endured these policies could not travel and were often confined to their homes for weeks or months at a time. Public sentiment toward the zero-COVID policy slowly soured over time, resulting in mass protests in Nov. 2022.
Because of the heavy censorship of media, protestors would hold up a blank sheet of paper, representing the powerful, voiceless citizens. Other protestors took to social media, where millions of users on WeChat and Douyin would send photos and videos that were flipped or edited to bypass the firewall. These protests were not only for the loosening of the Covid restrictions but also for political and social freedoms. These protests appeared successful, as President Xi Jinping loosened China’s zero-COVID policy in December. Forced quarantines, lockdowns and mass testing were done away with. Additionally, many schools and businesses have reopened. Citizens no longer had to report negative virus tests and health code checks to travel domestically. However, there has been a massive surge in Coronavirus infections due to the easing policies. Many hospitals are filling up rapidly, especially in largely populated cities like Beijing. Some hospitals have even run out of beds and intensive care units.
Chinese travelers crowding the airport after travel was reopened. Despite the rising cases, China and Hong Kong have decided to reopen their borders. Hong Kong placed a daily quota of 60,000 travelers crossing into mainland China. These crossings still require a negative Covid test within the last 48 hours.
For Chinese travelers, the most popular destinations are Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Thailand. With all of these countries celebrating the Lunar New year, scientists are predicting another surge in Coronavirus cases. Jan. 7, the day before
reopening, was the beginning of “Chun yun” - the 40-day period of travel for the Lunar New Year. With China expecting over 2 billion trips for the upcoming New Year travel, the risk of coronavirus infections is higher than ever.
Silicon Valley Falls From Grace
Photo: Times Now
Scandal and fraud mar the reputation of Silicon Valley, the epicenter of western technological innovation. The California tech hub is home to companies like Google, Twitter and Apple Inc and has the third highest GDP in the world. According to The Atlantic, these corporations “define our digital lives.” However, in recent years, the tech giants have struggled to “create the futures they’ve long advertised,” failing to democratize the tech world, instead prioritizing profit over customer and planet well-being. As recently as Dec. 2022, cryptocurrency exchange FTX founder and billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas for eight counts of fraud and the breaking of federal finance laws. The month before, the company went bankrupt and suffered billion-dollar financial losses for his customers, forcing Bankman-Fried to step down from his CEO position. In January, he pled not guilty but remains in house arrest for his crimes. The story of infamous former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes a few years prior bears stark similarities to BankmanFried. Holmes, a Stanford University dropout, believed she could reinvent and revitalize the blood testing industry, pitching a product that could test for various medical condi-
his advantage. Holmes, inspired by Jobs, acted similarly, opting to wear the Jobs-esque turtleneck and bright lipstick and to speak in an unnaturally low voice. Investors, initially skeptical, became drawn to her image as a teenage, and more importantly female, CEO of a medical startup. Holmes capitalized on the sense of awe and trust people felt for her; like Jobs, most Theranos advertising shows a closeup of Holmes’ face as she holds the product. At the end of her tenure as CEO, she went so far as to blame her failing technology on misogyny. After so many catastrophic mishaps, investors cannot continue to support these “geniuses,” who continue to falsely ensure they are working for the betterment of society, without any checks and balances. According to The Guardian, the model where “a visionary is entrusted with millions to invest the culture with scant oversight” has come to an end. On the bright side, these debacles will most likely create a new era of brisk enforcement and accountability, but the negative impacts will still echo throughout society. According to Yahoo, for example, in addition to the ethical repercussions of fraudulent technology, many women attempting to build startups have already reported the “long shadow” that people like Holmes have cast on the industry. Holmes’ particular scandal leaves women at a significant disadvantage, since the primary female Silicon Valley persona turned out to be a massive sham.
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pose for Forbes during their respective peaks. tions using only a single drop of blood. Holmes devised this idea at the mere age of 19, and in order to gain investor support, faked the original demonstration of the Theronos prototype as the technology had not been fully developed. Holmes was deemed a healthcare revolutionary, and in 2014 became the youngest female self-made billionaire. Theranos gained a partnership with Walgreens, and the pharmaceutical giant administered these blood tests on patients after many release delays. These “delays” were just a small piece of Holmes’ massive
commitment of fraud. The tests had a low success rate and fed inaccurate results to doctors, who based their prescriptions on the tests, including false indications of cancer. Holmes’ final breaking point came with journalist John Carryrou’s exposure of her lies to investors and faulty technology using inside sources at Theranos. The formerly $9 billion startup, complete with big-name investors like businessman Larry Ellison and former Secretary of State George Shultz, shut down in 2018. Holmes has been ordered to turn herself in to the authorities by April 2023.
For years, the success of these companies has come partly from the star power of their leaders. According to The Guardian, investors look for a new young “mastermind” to put their money behind, sometimes disregarding the actual tech they have to offer, like in Holmes’ case. This cult of personality is all too familiar when observing the patterns of these moguls, but simultaneously has gone unnoticed by investors for years. Steve Jobs, for example, was one of the first to attach his personality to his company image; he used certain quirks, like his ever-present black turtleneck, to