Xian’s Covid-19 chaos exposes dark side of China’s top-down governing approach

• A woman who suffered a miscarriage and other stories of anguish in locked-down Xian have reminded many of the early days of Wuhan’s lockdown in 2020
• The dysfunction is a reflection of the Communist Party’s increasing demands for absolute loyalty from its 90 million-plus members, who are expected to carry out instructions to the letter