Coronavirus - The modern 'kinder, gentler' Communist purge

In the 20th century, China, Cambodia and the USSR would quell any social unrest with very violent reactions. Mass executions, deliberately created famines, etc. This practice resulted in the deaths of millions of citizens.

Of course, today in the instant information age of the internet and social media, that would be impossible. But do you think that kind of thinking has just gone away?

Recently, China has been threatened economically by the US imposed sanctions. Hong Kong is at the boiling point for open rebellion.

China can't cut off the food or send out the troops or they would face worldwide condemnation. But a designer virus, made to kill mainly the aged and the sick, 'useless eaters' and leave the future generation mostly unharmed, and affect the productive adults just enough to scare them into frightened complacency? How easy would that be?

Just whip it up in your bio-war lab, sell the test animals to a wet-market and watch it spread around the world and cripple all your rivals in the bargain.

As a bonus, China was prepared for all this, so they will be able to recover months before the rest of the world and have a huge economic and perhaps military edge over anyone else.