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Leadership: Some Chinese Media Showed Voices of Discord

Several media in China have voiced subtle differences in tone from the main theme that Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee have voiced. However small these voices are, they show that the party lacks unity.

People’s Daily: A February 10 Twitter message pointed out that People’s Daily mobile APP had a very interesting design on that day: It had a picture of Xi Jinping visiting the Beijing local community for epidemic control, sandwiched between a text that read, “Go to Wuhan” (on the top) with a big banner, “Go to Wuhan” (at the bottom).

Article link: https://twitter.com/LifetimeUSCN/status/1226859830977019905?s=19.

China Global Television Network (CGTN): It reported that “five suns” had appeared in the sky in Inner Mongolia. In traditional Chinese culture, this was a terrible sign for the current leader. It meant that multiple people would start to challenge the leader or even declare themselves as the new “kings.” (Of course, CGTN only called it an optical phenomenon without touching the ancient Chinese interpretation.) Article link: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-02-16/-Five-suns-appear-in-China-s-Inner-Mongolia-O7So2eq9oY/index.html.

Caixin, a Beijing-based media group established in 2010 by Hu Shuli (胡舒立), who was known for his outspoken style: Has had an article on the Internet since January 27, 2020. In the article, the Wuhan Mayor, Zhou Xianwang, said he reported the coronavirus epidemic to Beijing in December 2019 but was not “authorized” to reveal the information to the public until January 20, 2020. Article link: http://china.caixin.com/2020-01-27/101508817.html. Related Chinascope posting: Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before.

Caixin: Since February 13, it has kept an article on its website questioning the official Infection count in Wuhan. Article link: http://www.caixin.com/2020-02-13/101515147.html. Related Chinascope posting: Infection Count: Caixin Questioned Wuhan Infection Number on February 13.

Beijing News, a Beijing-based newspaper: Has kept an article on its website since January 27, 2020. It is similar to Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang’s story that he was not “authorized” to reveal the information to the public before January 20, 2020. Article link: http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2020/01/27/680293.html. Related Chinascope posting: Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before.

Red Song Club, a leftist (pro-communist ideology) website: Has kept an article since February 6, 2020, questioning whether the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory might have leaked the coronavirus to the public. Article link: http://m.szhgh.com/show.php?classid=50&id=222546.

Xilu Website, called itself China’s military portal: For many days, it kept the same article on-line challenging the Wuhan lab for leaking the virus but finally took it out. Old link: http://www.xilu.com/20200207/1000010001120545.html.

Hot Topics | | February 18, 2020 | Social Stability

Virus Origin: Who Was Patient “No. Zero”?

Many people, including medical experts, have been questioning the origin of the coronavirus. Many Chinese individually questioned whether it was created by the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, China’s first Biocontainment Level 4 (BL4) lab (Chinese call it a P4 lab) in Wuhan.

There have been widespread discussions among Chinese individuals on the Internet about a few “theories” to support this suspicion, though officially the media have remained silent:

The virus was leaked to the public by selling experimental animals with the coronavirus.
Huang Yanling (黄燕玲), a female graduate student who studied at the P4 lab in 2012, was the first coronavirus patient (Patient “No. Zero”).
No one from the P4 lab has caught the coronavirus, so they may know a specific way to protect themselves.

On February 15, the government declared theory #2 to be a “rumor.” The Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, issued a statement that Huang Yanling didn’t work at Wuhan P4 lab after her graduation.

Beijing News interviewed Shi Zhengli, the lead technician at the P4 lab and Chen Quanjiao, a researcher at the lab. Both were not sure if the lab has someone called Huang Yanling, but Shi Zhengli flatly rejected the idea that patient “No. Zero” was from the lab. “How could that be? It is definitely fake news. I can guarantee that including graduate students, no one in our institute has been infected. Our institute has zero infections.”

Caixin also gave a detailed report on patient “No. Zero.” In addition to mentioning that it was a rumor, it explained the significance of identifying patient “No. Zero” and mentioned that the first reported infection case of coronavirus was on December 1, 2019 and the patient didn’t go to the seafood market, which China blamed as the starting point of the virus.

Leadership: Xi Explains His Role in Containing Coronavirus since January 7

Qiushi Journal, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee’s flagship bimonthly periodical, released a speech that Xi Jinping, the CCP General Secretary, gave at the February 3 meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Qiushi published the full text of Xi’s speech on Saturday, February 15. In the speech, Xi explained his role since January 7, 2020, in containing the novel coronavirus. After consolidating power, Xi has made it a rule that different organizations, including the National People’s Congress, State Council, each headed by a Politburo Standing Committee member, all report their work to him. This is the first time he had to explain to others what he has been doing.

China experts observed that Xi has been under mounting domestic and international pressure because of the outbreak, as well as the spread of the coronavirus. In order to “gain international understanding and support,” Xi offered guidance on “communicating with WHO, and with relevant countries and regions, to promote information sharing and policy coordination.” Meanwhile, Wilbur Ross, the US commerce secretary, revealed that the 15-member WHO delegation has no US experts in it.

Xi also wanted to “ensure societal control and security by stepping up law enforcement and mobilizing public security and the armed police in joint efforts.” Xi made no mention of the delayed or inaccurate reporting that the local leaders from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak had voiced.

Xi gave orders to “strengthen control and management of Internet media; push for clear organizational and individual obligations, management obligations, and supervision obligations; and strike against and handle those who spread rumors and stir up trouble.”

On February 4, the day after Xi’s speech, Zhao Kezhi, minister of China’s ministry of public security, told police personnel across the country through a teleconference to maintain a secure and stable environment to fight the virus. He said the police needed to place “political security” above everything else, and to crack down on “domestic and international hostile forces.”

Xi also emphasized adherence to the economic goals set for this year, including achieving “moderate prosperity.”

Resuming Production: Companies Discover Coronavirus Cases after Resuming Work – February 16

After Xi Jinping pushed for thawing the economic freeze due to the lockdown of cities in the face of the novel coronavirus, a few places in China mobilized businesses to resume work. However, several companies, after restarting work, immediately reported a patient of coronavirus at work and thus had to stop operations and instead quarantine all or part of the employees who came to work for another 14 days.

An office worker from Guangzhou was found to have caught the coronavirus. All employees from his company were stopped from working and put under quarantine.
A person returned to Beijing to resume his work after the Chinese New Year. After working for eight days, he was found to have the coronavirus. Several dozen people in his department were quarantined and a colleague who sat next to him at the cafeteria during lunch was infected.
A branch of Chongqing Titanium Industry Company, owned by the Panzhihua Iron and Steel Company, a State-owned enterprise and the largest steel maker in Western China, had 2 confirmed cases and 1 asymptomatic infection case, with 131 people having had close contact with the patients.
Lianyuan Conch Cement Factory in Loudi City, Hunan Province and an electricity power plant in Shanxi Province also reported cases. The companies either stopped operations or locked down the employees.
Gree Electric in Zhuhai City, Hubei Province reported that a driver of a shuttle bus to transport its employees to work had close contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient. Gree has several tens of thousands of employees in Zhuhai.

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