Laid low by coronavirus, Wuhan’s industrial heart is kept beating by its defence industries
- Hubei’s capital city by the Yangtze River has become synonymous with China’s fight against deadly disease
- Outbreak has been a major setback for Wuhan’s economic and social stability, but experts say its history as defence and transport hub in central China give it hope
While modern Wuhan is a key port on the Yangtze River with access to dozens of resource-rich lakes, the city has been a transport hub in central China for centuries. Today, its railways, air services and waterway systems connect nine provinces on the mainland.
The city has also played a major role in China’s turbulent history. The first shots in Sun Yat-sen’s nationalist Xinhai revolution against the ruling Qing dynasty were fired in Wuchang, one of the three districts in Wuhan, on October 10, 1911. That revolution swept aside the dynasty that had ruled since 1644 and paved the way for the Republic of China (ROC).
In the years before the 1911 revolution, Hubei had become a centre for industrialisation. Zhang Zhidong, a minister of the Qing government, advocated a policy of “controlled reform”, a movement that included military modernisation, in the late 1800s.
To train a new military, Zhang established a Western-style military academy in Hubei, introduced Germany’s renowned bolt-action Mauser rifles to its forces, and set up arsenals in Wuhan.