China Briefing | Coronavirus: Xi says the tide has turned, but people deserve the truth about China’s response
- While Beijing deserves kudos for its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, it should provide a full accounting of its initial blunders
- An authoritative special commission looking into the early stages of its approach would help restore public confidence in the government
So Xi’s arrival on Tuesday should have come as no surprise, as it was meant as a clear message that China is winning the “People’s War” against the disease that has infected more than 80,000 people in the country since December, killing more than 3,000.
He claimed China’s draconian measures – including locking down the entire province, which has a population of 60 million people – had achieved initial success in “stabilising the situation and turning the tide”.
Xi needs this win. Even the official Xinhua news agency admitted that the public health crisis represented one of the biggest tests of his eight years of governance, during which he has completely transformed how the country is governed and has made himself its most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
His trip would help reassure the jittery nation amid widespread criticism of the government’s initial handling of the outbreak, which included downplaying risks and suppressing information as well as bureaucratic inertia.
