Wuhan mayor says his hands were tied by rules requiring Beijing’s approval before releasing sensitive information
By Josh Chin
China Virus Epicenter’s Streets Deserted as Hospitals Struggle to Cope. Chinese authorities are urging the public to remain calm as they try to contain a mysterious, fast-spreading coronavirus that has killed dozens of people and infected thousands. However, millions have already left Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.
China Virus Epicenter’s Streets Deserted as Hospitals Struggle to Cope. Chinese authorities are urging the public to remain calm as they try to contain a mysterious, fast-spreading coronavirus that has killed dozens of people and infected thousands. However, millions have already left Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.
BEIJING—The mayor of Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of China’s viral outbreak, suggested Beijing was to blame for the initial lack of transparency about the threat posed by the pathogen, a rare public airing of tensions within the Chinese government as it struggles to get a handle on a fast-expanding public-health crisis.
The comments by Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang, were broadcast on China’s state television network just hours after Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the city to meet infected patients and front-line health workers—an appearance that served as a signal of dissatisfaction from the central government at how local officials have dealt with the coronavirus outbreak.
Wuhan, the sprawling capital of central China’s Hubei province, remained on lockdown Monday as part of an unprecedented effort to contain the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 2,700 people and killed at least 80.
Comments on Chinese social media and health experts have excoriated local officials for not being more forthcoming about the threat posed by the virus, which researchers traced to a market selling wild animal meat in the city late last year.
Mr. Zhou used an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television to push back against criticism of Wuhan’s handling of the virus, saying his hands were tied by rules that required Beijing’s approval before releasing sensitive information.
The comments by Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang, were broadcast on China’s state television network just hours after Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the city to meet infected patients and front-line health workers—an appearance that served as a signal of dissatisfaction from the central government at how local officials have dealt with the coronavirus outbreak.
Wuhan, the sprawling capital of central China’s Hubei province, remained on lockdown Monday as part of an unprecedented effort to contain the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 2,700 people and killed at least 80.
Comments on Chinese social media and health experts have excoriated local officials for not being more forthcoming about the threat posed by the virus, which researchers traced to a market selling wild animal meat in the city late last year.
Mr. Zhou used an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television to push back against criticism of Wuhan’s handling of the virus, saying his hands were tied by rules that required Beijing’s approval before releasing sensitive information.
Mr. Zhou’s unusually public dig at the central leadership mirrored complaints that local officials have expressed in private for years about Xi Jinping’s rigid, top-down leadership style.
Wearing a blue face mask, Mr. Zhou told CCTV that he and Wuhan Communist Party Secretary Ma Guoqiang were prepared to be judged by history for imposing the lockdown on the city, which prompted runs on grocery stores and heightened residents’ feelings of anxiety.
“Comrade Ma Guoqiang and I are willing to accept responsibility,” Mr. Zhou said.
Wearing a blue face mask, Mr. Zhou told CCTV that he and Wuhan Communist Party Secretary Ma Guoqiang were prepared to be judged by history for imposing the lockdown on the city, which prompted runs on grocery stores and heightened residents’ feelings of anxiety.
“Comrade Ma Guoqiang and I are willing to accept responsibility,” Mr. Zhou said.
“If in the end you say someone has to be held accountable, you say the masses have opinions, then we’re willing to appease the world by resigning.”
Zhou’s and Ma’s fates remain unclear, and the two men couldn’t be reached for comment.
Zhou’s and Ma’s fates remain unclear, and the two men couldn’t be reached for comment.
During a similar coronavirus outbreak in 2003, Beijing’s mayor had made a similar pledge to resign, and was soon replaced.
Mr. Zhou’s criticism came as the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan became the first to cancel its annual People’s Congress conclave and its political consultative conference.
Mr. Zhou’s criticism came as the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan became the first to cancel its annual People’s Congress conclave and its political consultative conference.
The sessions, the most important political meetings of the year, were set to begin on Sunday, and the cancelation reflected the growing political stakes around the outbreak.
On Monday, Li, China’s No. 2 ranked leader, became the highest-ranking official to visit Wuhan since the coronavirus outbreak.
On Monday, Li, China’s No. 2 ranked leader, became the highest-ranking official to visit Wuhan since the coronavirus outbreak.
The website of the central government in Beijing published photos showing Li, wearing a face mask and swaddled in blue protective gear, as he toured medical facilities in Wuhan.
In one image, Li appeared to be speaking through a walkie-talkie to a patient on a video screen.
Video posted on the central government’s social-media account showed Li visiting the site where construction crews are building one of two new hospitals that authorities ordered built to house the infected.
Video posted on the central government’s social-media account showed Li visiting the site where construction crews are building one of two new hospitals that authorities ordered built to house the infected.
Asked by Li whether they had encountered any difficulties, construction workers can be heard yelling “no” in unison.
Li Keqiang, center, talks to shoppers at a supermarket in Wuhan.
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping usually reserves the top position on important issues for himself, but in this instance he appointed Li to head the Communist Party’s virus-response task force.
State media haven't reported on any visits to Hubei by Xi since the outbreak began.
In a sign of the high degree of concern by senior officials, the central government said Monday it was extending the annual Lunar New Year holiday, currently under way, to Feb. 2 to delay the infection risk posed by the migration of tens of millions of mostly rural laborers back to their workplaces in the cities.
In a sign of the high degree of concern by senior officials, the central government said Monday it was extending the annual Lunar New Year holiday, currently under way, to Feb. 2 to delay the infection risk posed by the migration of tens of millions of mostly rural laborers back to their workplaces in the cities.
Both Shanghai and the nearby manufacturing hub of Suzhou went one step further, ordering residents not to come back to work until Feb. 9.
Some of the country’s biggest tech companies followed suit.
TikTok-owner Bytedance Inc. and social-media giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. both sent out notes urging mainland Chinese employees to work from home until at least Feb. 9.
In Beijing and other cities, residents reported being visited by local officials and asked whether they had recently traveled to Hubei.
In Beijing and other cities, residents reported being visited by local officials and asked whether they had recently traveled to Hubei.
Those who had were told to isolate themselves in their apartments.
One Beijing property-rental company issued a notice telling tenants from Hubei not to return to the city, warning those who disobeyed to accept the legal consequences.
“This a political duty. We’re required to give it high-level importance,” the notice read.
He Qinghua, an expert with China’s cabinet-level National Health Commission, said at a press conference in Beijing that the country’s rural areas were a “weak link” in efforts to control the coronavirus, which is similar to the pathogen that caused the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in late 2002 and early 2003.
“Our rural population has no experience in combating SARS. SARS was mainly in cities,” Mr. He said.
He Qinghua, an expert with China’s cabinet-level National Health Commission, said at a press conference in Beijing that the country’s rural areas were a “weak link” in efforts to control the coronavirus, which is similar to the pathogen that caused the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in late 2002 and early 2003.
“Our rural population has no experience in combating SARS. SARS was mainly in cities,” Mr. He said.
“Therefore, their awareness of epidemic prevention is still low.”
Regions bordering China took new steps to isolate themselves from the outbreak.
Regions bordering China took new steps to isolate themselves from the outbreak.
On China’s northern border, Mongolia planned to restrict car and pedestrian traffic from China starting Tuesday, according to Montsame, the country’s official state-run news agency.
The gambling haven of Macau, a semiautonomous region of China on the mainland’s southern border, said Monday it would deny entry to anyone from Hubei or who had been in Hubei recently, unless they had certification that they were free of the coronavirus.
Separately, authorities on the southern island province of Hainan reported one new death from the coronavirus.
The gambling haven of Macau, a semiautonomous region of China on the mainland’s southern border, said Monday it would deny entry to anyone from Hubei or who had been in Hubei recently, unless they had certification that they were free of the coronavirus.
Separately, authorities on the southern island province of Hainan reported one new death from the coronavirus.
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