News Analysis Omicron is dragging down China’s economic recovery. Cases are rising and the Chinese vaccines are proving ineffective. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a “zero COVID” policy, but cases have been well above zero since the Omicron outbreak. Omicron is rising, in spite of at least 75 percent of the population being fully vaccinated. Even the third dose of Sinovac vaccine seems to be ineffective against Omicron. As a result, China is poised for a third year of lockdowns and restrictions, which are crippling the economy. In recent months, Beijing has been increasing social controls. In the city of Xi’an, 13 million residents are under lockdown and 810 local symptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported on Dec. 28. In Inner Mongolia, nearly 10,000 tourists were stranded because of a few dozen cases. Around 33,863 people were locked in Shanghai Disneyland because one person tested positive for COVID. Two Beijing-bound high-speed trains …