The outbreak of the novel coronavirus ruined Wuhan for three months. The government has reported over 2,000 deaths. The Wuhan Communist Party Secretary, Wang Zhonglin, decided to plan an “education” campaign to teach people to “be grateful to Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
On March 6, Changjiang Daily, a newspaper under the Wuhan Party Committee, reported that Wang gave the order on March 5 to conduct the “be grateful” education campaign for the cadres and citizens of Wuhan. “Be grateful to Xi Jinping, be grateful to the CCP, listen to the Party, and follow the Party, to form a strong positive energy.”
Chinese social media opposed it overwhelmingly.
On March 7, Changjiang Daily deleted that report. The WeChat posting under its official account was also removed.
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Excerpt in Chinese:
武汉肺炎爆发至今近3个月，当地死亡人数超过2000人。武汉市委书记王忠林近日却下令，要市民“感恩总书记、感恩共产党”，引发强烈反弹。国际媒体星期六（3月7日）的报道说，王忠林此举可能是为迎接习近平抵访武汉。据悉，武汉市委机关报星期六（3月7日）已将王忠林发言的相关报道撤下，官方微信公众号的文章也被下架。
隶属中共武汉市委的长江日报星期六报道说，中共武汉市委书记王忠林3月5日已下令，要对市民与干部展开感恩教育，“感恩总书记、感恩共产党，听党话、跟党走，形成强大正能量。”这番言论在中国社群平台引发强烈反弹。
Source: Radio Free Asia, March 7, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/4-03072020121016.html