Chinese authorities say coronavirus control at heart of clampdown on 10 broad categories of crime

Beijing announces sweeping measures to curb rumours about outbreak, scam sales of masks and goggles, and violation of quarantine conditions

Measures also laid out to tackle causes of social panic, ‘stirring up public sentiment, or disrupting order, especially maliciously attacking party and government’

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Urged to action by President Xi Jinping, nationwide measures tighten control over health as well as speech, including criticism of Communist Party and government. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00pm, 12 Feb 2020Updated: 4:44pm, 13 Feb 2020

The Chinese authorities said they would clamp down on rumour-mongering and other crimes relating to the coronavirus outbreak to tighten control amid the worst public health crisis to hit the country in decades.

A set of guidelines jointly issued on Monday by the country’s top judicial and law enforcement agencies identified 10 wide-ranging categories of crimes that were judged to jeopardise disease control and undermine social stability and the Communist Party.

Senior officials from the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice said that the measures were needed to cope with a crisis that had killed more than 1,100 people in China.

The move came after a meeting last week when President Xi Jinping urged legal and judicial authorities to work together to play a bigger role in the uphill battle against the outbreak, which stood at a critical juncture.

Acquiring surgical masks in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has become a lottery. Photo: EPA-EFE

On Monday, Xi said again that the outbreak posed severe challenges to the country and his government and he tried to rally public support for what he called a “people’s war” against the virus.