Ding Xiangyang, the Deputy Chief Secretary of the State Council and a member of the Central government’s Supervision Group at Hubei Province, stated that it was Xi Jinping who ordered the Wuhan lockdown.
Ding made such statement at a press conference on February 20, 2020. Ding said, “Actually, when Vice Premier Sun Chunlan came to Wuhan on January 22, she made two decisions based on the specific direction from the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (Xi Jinping), that would be a ‘city lockdown’ and that the holiday would be extended (so people had to stay home instead of going back to work).” “It is not easy to reach a consensus with everyone at that time, but with the CCP Central’s support, we were determined to do that. No matter who said what, we were determined to do that.”
On January 27, 2020, when China Central Television (CCTV) interviewed Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang, Zhou stated that he had decided to lock down the city under the pressure in spite of people’s negative response. (See posting Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before)
Related postings on Chinascope:
- Leadership: Xi Explains His Role in Containing Coronavirus since January 7
- Leadership: Xi Jinping Made a Public Appearance on February 10
- Leadership: Xi Jinping: I Have Been In Charge All Along
- Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before
Excerpt in Chinese:
至2月20日，中央指导组已进驻湖北25天。当天下午4点，将发布会现场“搬到前线”的国务院新闻办，在武汉再度举行发布会，中央指导组成员、国务院副秘书长丁向阳，中央指导组成员、国家发展改革委副主任连维良，中央指导组成员、国家卫生健康委党组成员、中医药局党组书记、副局长余艳红介绍中央赴湖北指导组组织开展疫情防控工作情况，并回答记者提问。
他介绍，按照中央的要求，中央指导组的主要职责有三项：一是督导湖北，把习近平总书记的指示和中央部署贯彻落实好，把各项措施布置到位，各项任务按目标、按预期完成，取得疫情防控的最后胜利；二是指导湖北抗击疫情，中央指导组的到来，就是要增强防控力量，为湖北协调一些重大事务，比如协调物资，协调医务人员，协调技术支持等；三是督察职责，督察不作为、乱作为、不担当的问题，依法依纪要求有关方面作出整改，作出调查处理。
丁向阳说，实际上，孙春兰副总理在1月22日来到武汉时，就按照总书记的具体指示和要求，做了两个决定，即“封城”和延长假期。针对有关武汉“封城”的争议，他回应，“在这样一个时刻，要达到共识恐怕不是太容易，但是有党中央的支持，我们决心已下，各项措施都到位，无论哪些人说什么，我们都坚定了这个决心。有些同志在聊天的时候讲，在这个问题上，有一些议论和说辞都不要紧，我们宁要微辞，不要危机。”
Source: Xinhua, February 21, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-02/21/c_1125604972.htm