In a wide-ranging commentary published on 3 February 2022, China File discussed the history of China"s easing and tightening of restrictions concerning contacts with foreigners. World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller comments: "The author uses as his starting-point the famous quip by Deng Xiaoping: "˜If you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in." She then shows that "˜at least since the time of Marco Polo, China has managed cultural diversity by ring fencing". Thus, contacts with foreigners were already perceived as being "˜us against them" centuries before the Communist Party came into power. This tradition dominated reactions during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. China File then cited a recent position paper by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China which reported that there were currently more foreigners living in Luxemburg than in China and concluded: "˜The number is diminishing. COVID-19 in some ways has come as a boon to Chinese leaders who tend towards xenophobia: It provides an excuse to keep foreigners out and, to a large extent, to keep Chinese in. And so China has come full circle, from the bewildered sleeper that emerged from the Cultural Revolution rubbing its collective eyes to the isolated Middle Kingdom it has historically preferred to be, from the Open Door to the nearly closed."" Thomas Muller adds: "This trend also increases the risks coming from a lack of international communication and understanding, as simply more and more such channels are shut down or dried out. The trend also dovetails with an observation shared in another opinion article published by Foreign Affairs on 14 February 2022 centered around the dichotomy "˜us against them". And while one need not necessarily agree with each and every conclusion drawn in the piece, the dynamic that "˜the enemy of my enemy is my friend" does indeed seem to be getting stronger in China. Christians in China may find themselves easily caught in the crosshairs, especially when they are perceived as being a Western (and thus foreign) religion."