Xi Jinping sends in the hard men to deal with the Wuhan virus
He fires the local bosses who failed to get to grips with the covid-19 outbreak
WHEN SECRETIVE, Leninist parties have bad news to get out of the way, they do not hang about. In the space of a single day, February 13th, China’s ruling Communist Party fired the officials who run the province and city at the heart of the epidemic of covid-19, announced a big jump in the number of recorded virus infections there, and sent in hardliners close to Xi Jinping, the country’s supreme leader, to clean up the mess.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “The hard men”
From the February 15th 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
China’s leaders reveal their plan to cope with 2025
Beating trade wars and deflation and boosting science are priorities
This week is a moment of truth for Xi Jinping on deflation
The budget will show how the Party plans to tackle the dangers China faces
The AfD’s unusual China connection
Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s AfD, spent six years in the People’s Republic
Who works where, doing what, in China
A surprising new census shows a workforce being transformed
Could there be Chinese troops in Europe?
China’s leaders now talk of “a window of opportunity for peace”
Chinese authorities try to stop parents gaming the exam system (again)
They will go to great lengths to try