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On February 11, 2020, CNHan.com, the website that the media Changjiang Daily, the official newspaper under the Wuhan Communist Party Committee runs, published an article to defend its Mayor Zhou Xianwang.

The article said, “Many people claimed that the Wuhan Mayor, Zhao Xianwang, has an inescapable primary responsibility for letting the epidemic spread across the country, but who has taken a rational view to see that the mayor had no choice? As early as the December of the outbreak, Wuhan reported the relevant situation to the national health organization. The expert team came to Wuhan to investigate and gave a preliminary conclusion. The mayor did not have a professional medical background, so what was wrong for him to follow the experts’ recommendations? . . .  When (on January 20) Dr. Zhong Nanshan declared that the virus could not be transmitted from person to person, how much political risk would the mayor have faced to make the unprecedented decision to lock down the city?”

It further went on to praise the mayor’s courage for locking down the city for the benefit of the country.

The article argued for a few points:

1. In December, the mayor had already reported the epidemic to the Central government.

2. The mayor followed the expert team’s opinion (the team claimed the virus wouldn’t pass from person to person, so he didn’t take action to stop public gatherings earlier). It was not until January 20, that China officially admitted the person to person transmission.

Beijing has started replacing officials at Hubei and Wuhan. The first round was replacement of both the Party Secretary and the Director of the Hubei Provincial Health Bureau. On February 13, Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong was appointed as the Hubei Party Secretary and Wang Zhonglin from Jinan City Party Secretary, Shandong Province, was appointed as the Wuhan Party Secretary. Ying Yong, Wang Zhonglin, and Chen Yixin (the former Wuhan Mayor and now the Deputy Director of Central Government Oversight Committee at Wuhan) all have been working in the party’s Political and Legal Affairs system, whose primary job is to maintain social stability.

Replacing the Hubei Governor or Wuhan Mayor may need to wait for the meeting of the corresponding People’s Congress, though it is just a pass-through.

The Wuhan Mayor is likely to use this article to fight for his safe landing. He made a similar claim before. In an interview with the China Central Television (CCTV) on January 27, 2020, Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang claimed that he was not “authorized” earlier to release the epidemic information to the public.

It is very rare in China’s political system to see a subordinate openly pushing blame onto higher levels, especially repeatedly doing so.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: Xi Jinping Told Trump That by April, the Heat Will Kill Coronavirus
• Leadership: Xi Jinping Made a Public Appearance on February 10
• Leadership: Xi Jinping: I Have Been In Charge All Along
• Leadership: Wuhan Party Secretary Mentioned a Few Critical Dates
• Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before

Continue reading →

A Twitter account @WH_Revolution called for the people in Wuhan to protest the communist government’s suppression of freedom of speech and its hiding of information. It proposed that people do the following to protest from their homes from 8 pm to 8:30 pm on February 14, 2020:

1. Turn off the lights for one minute at 8 pm.
2. Simultaneously knock on pans and shout “Protest.”
3. Shout the following slogan: “Cheers, Wuhan People!” “Wuhan People, Save Ourselves!” “Release Chen Qiushi!” and “Release Fang Bin!” [Editor’s Note: both Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin were arrested for revealing the truth about the epidemic situation in Wuhan.]
4. Sing China’s National Anthem.
5. Throw flyers and other pieces of paper from their homes.
6. Conduct a live broadcast on the Internet or record short videos to spread on Internet.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Public Opinion: Intellectuals in China Started Raising Their “Five Demands”
• Public Opinion: Mourning for Dr. Li Wenliang
• Public Opinion: Outpouring of Grief and Anger upon Death of Chinese Doctor Who Warned Others About Coronavirus

Continue reading →

President Donald Trump said on February 10, 2020, that he had a phone conversation with Xi Jinping. Xi told him that the novel coronavirus was likely to die off “by April” because of the heat.

Trump made the remark at the White House while speaking at an event with U.S. state governors.

“I had a long talk with President Xi—for the people in this room—two nights ago, and he feels very confident,” Trump said. “He feels very confident, and he feels that . . . by April or during the month of April, the heat, generally speaking, kills this kind of virus. So that would be a good thing.”

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: Xi Jinping Made a Public Appearance on February 10
• Leadership: Xi Jinping: I Have Been In Charge All Along
• Leadership: Wuhan Party Secretary Mentioned a Few Critical Dates
• Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before

Source: Newsweek, February 10, 2020
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-chinese-president-xi-told-him-coronavirus-will-killed-heat-april-1486571

Xi Jinping made a high-profile appearance on February 10, He visited a local community, hospital and the epidemic control center and he also had a tele-conference with Wuhan.

Xi’s last public appearance was on February 5 when he met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Some Western media commented that Xi might have been forced to make this appearance. The Chinese people have been suffering from this great epidemic, but there was no clear voice from the Central government saying who is actively managing the overall anti-epidemic effort. Xi, in his meeting with Tedros, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 28, said that he has been in charge all along.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: Xi Jinping: I Have Been In Charge All Along
• Leadership: Wuhan Party Secretary Mentioned a Few Critical Dates
• Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before

Source: BBC Chinese, February 11, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-51460567

The authorities in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two of China’s top four mega cities (the other two being Beijing and Shanghai) were given the power to requisition private property when they deemed it necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The standing committee of the People’s Congress in Guangzhou and in  Shenzhen made the announcement on February 11, 2020. Both cities are located in southern Guangdong province.

The private property which could be seized, according to decisions of the People’s Congress of each of the two cities, includes houses, facilities, transportation vehicles, and other equipment. Government officials also have the authority to order companies to produce supplies which they think should take priority in containing the spread of the coronavirus.

In 2007, China’s National People’s Congress passed a national law to protect private property. This is the first time local governments cited an emergency clause in the private property law stating that the property of companies and individuals can be requisitioned.

Local authorities have been given the power to quarantine suspected patients and to screen all residents. Continue reading →

Tencent has been reporting the official numbers related to the novel coronavirus in China. For a long time, China has reported infection cases in the thousands or just ten thousand and death cases in hundreds.

However, on February 1, 2020, Tencent briefly reported a set of unusually high numbers. It reported that 154,023 had been infected and 24,589 had died. Then it adjusted the data back to much smaller numbers. On February 2, Tencent lowered the number back to 14,446 infections and 304 deaths.

It is unclear whether Tencent “accidentally” reported numbers that were accurate or much closer to the truth or the February 1 data was just a mistake.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Death Count: Wuhan Has Unusually High Sulfur Dioxide Gas
• Death Count: (Unconfirmed) Huoshenshan Hospital Has Emptied 200 Rooms Every Day
• Death Count: Funeral Home Interviews Suggested 500 Corpses Incinerated in Wuhan per Day
• Death Count: Wuhan Incinerated 122 Corpses Per Day Before Coronavirus Outbreak

Continue reading →

The night of February 6, 2020, saw the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, a Wuhan physician who alerted others about novel coronavirus a month ago. He then contracted the virus when working on the front-line treating patients. There was an outcry among intellectuals within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) establishment. They cried out for freedom of speech.

Citizen News, a social diversity advocate news outlet based in Hong Kong, published an open letter signed by leading Chinese intellectuals with five demands:

1. The Designation of February 6 as National Freedom of Speech Day (Dr. Li Wenliang Day).
2. Starting now, fully implement the Chinese people’s right to freedom of speech granted by Article 35 of the Constitution.
3. Starting now, no political forces or state machine should infringe on the Chinese people when they form associations or communicate among each other. The state organs must immediately stop censoring or blocking the content of social media.
4. Grant equal rights to citizens in Wuhan city and Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus. All coronavirus patients should be able to receive timely, proper, and effective treatment.
5. Call for the National People’s Congress to convene an emergency assembly to discuss how to protect citizens’ freedom of speech and do not allow any police force to stop the planned meeting (China holds the National People’s Congress in early March every year).

Scholars associated with China’s leading universities, including Renmin University, Peking University, and Tsinghua University, have signed the open letter. South China Morning Post reported on February 12 that hundreds of Chinese, led by academics, have signed the petition.

China’s Human Rights Attorney Association also called for designating February 6 as “National Truth Day.”

On February 7, a “Notice to All Chinese” was sent out from “a group of Tsinghua University Alumni” with five appeals:

1. Resolutely oppose putting political security above all else; that is the goal of an extremely selfish group.
2. Resolutely oppose blocking discussion groups and individual accounts on social media.
3. Resolutely oppose the current maintenance of the stability mentality and practice; oppose treating the people as the enemy.
4. Resolutely oppose making this disaster a grand party to praise the party; going after the accountability of the officials and the system is a must.
5. Resolutely oppose going backward; adhere to the abolition of the lifelong term of leaders that Deng Xiaoping started.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Public Opinion: Mourning for Dr. Li Wenliang
• Public Opinion: Outpouring of Grief and Anger upon Death of Chinese Doctor Who Warned Others About Coronavirus

Continue reading →

The night of February 6, 2020, saw the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan physician who alerted others about novel coronavirus a month ago and then contracted the virus himself when he was working on the front line treating patients. His death triggered a public mourning and questioning of the communist regime’s policy of obscurantism.

Within Hours of Dr. Li’s death, the head of the Shanghai branch of People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP central committee, wrote a poem that was widely circulated over Chinese social media. His poem read as follows: “We are angered by how your warning was treated as rumor, and how your death was not rumor [the state-run media denied Li Wenliang’s death for a few hours to buy time to squash the popular outcry] … Now, because of not believing your ‘whistle-blowing,’ the whole country has stopped functioning, and your heart has stopped beating. How many more severe prices do we have to pay to let your voice be heard across the oriental world?”

A comment stated, “Xi Jinping and other officials who hid the information about the epidemic should be tried.”

Another comment said, “It is a tragedy that a country only allows one voice. That will lead to disaster as well.”

Related posting on Chinascope:

• Public Opinion: Outpouring of Grief and Anger upon Death of Chinese Doctor Who Warned Others About Coronavirus

Continue reading →