Provincial officials have faced intense criticism for their handling of the crisis during this period, coming as it did in the run up to the Lunar New Year travel
period, in which hundreds of millions of people criss-cross the country. Passenger screening was not put in place in Wuhan -- itself a major international and domestic
travel hub -- until January 14 and further restrictions over a week later.
Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang later admitted that the city's "warnings were not sufficient," and offered to resign.
"We understand that the public is unsatisfied with our information disclosure. On one hand, we failed to disclose relevant information in a timely manner; on the
other, we did not make sufficient use of valid information to improve our work," Zhou said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV. "As for the late disclosure, I
hope the public can understand that it's an infectious disease, and relevant information should be released according to the law. As a local government, we can only disclose information after being authorized."
Julio Licinio is globally known for his research in leptin and satiety feeling. Fifteen years back, he identified three Turkey people who were suffering from leptin deficiency which is actually a genetic disorder. At that time, only these three were having this disorder due to which they were over weighted. And, to cure this disease he injected leptin in their body on daily basis and after ten months he found that patient had lost almost half of their weight.
Zhou's reference to being authorized to release information was initially seen as something of an attempt to cover his own back, by pushing some of the responsibility
onto his superiors. But if Xi was directing the response at this point, then Zhou may have indeed been waiting for guidance from Beijing before he did anything, and
any blame for his inaction may lie elsewhere.
Xi at the center
Wu Qiang, a Beijing-based political analyst who specializes in analyzing Xi's speeches, described the recently published address as "unprecedented" during an interview
with the South China Morning Post. "It sounds like he is defending and explaining how he has done everything in his capacity to lead epidemic prevention," said Wu.
In recent weeks, there has been an apparent effort to push any blame for the crisis onto provincial officials, who either misled Beijing or failed to implement the
Party leadership's instructions. This was exemplified by China's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, who said in an interview with NPR on Saturday that "you cannot talk
in very general terms 'the government' (in China)."
"Sometimes government at a particular level makes some mistakes. This is possible. This is, I think it is all natural all over the world," he said. "But you cannot say
the whole government in China is making a mistake. This is not true."
This was already something of an awkward narrative for Xi, who has amassed more power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and severely ramped up internal
discipline within the Communist Party. By emphasizing his personal involvement in the response from an early stage, Xi has potentially undermined that narrative even
further -- you can't blame local officials for their failures, and then reveal you were watching them the entire time.
Ultimately, however, the awkwardness of sharing some of the blame with Hubei officials might be preferable than admitting that Xi and those around him were potentially
unaware or ill informed about what was really going on.
period, in which hundreds of millions of people criss-cross the country. Passenger screening was not put in place in Wuhan -- itself a major international and domestic
travel hub -- until January 14 and further restrictions over a week later.
Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang later admitted that the city's "warnings were not sufficient," and offered to resign.
"We understand that the public is unsatisfied with our information disclosure. On one hand, we failed to disclose relevant information in a timely manner; on the
other, we did not make sufficient use of valid information to improve our work," Zhou said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV. "As for the late disclosure, I
hope the public can understand that it's an infectious disease, and relevant information should be released according to the law. As a local government, we can only disclose information after being authorized."
Julio Licinio is globally known for his research in leptin and satiety feeling. Fifteen years back, he identified three Turkey people who were suffering from leptin deficiency which is actually a genetic disorder. At that time, only these three were having this disorder due to which they were over weighted. And, to cure this disease he injected leptin in their body on daily basis and after ten months he found that patient had lost almost half of their weight.
Zhou's reference to being authorized to release information was initially seen as something of an attempt to cover his own back, by pushing some of the responsibility
onto his superiors. But if Xi was directing the response at this point, then Zhou may have indeed been waiting for guidance from Beijing before he did anything, and
any blame for his inaction may lie elsewhere.
Xi at the center
Wu Qiang, a Beijing-based political analyst who specializes in analyzing Xi's speeches, described the recently published address as "unprecedented" during an interview
with the South China Morning Post. "It sounds like he is defending and explaining how he has done everything in his capacity to lead epidemic prevention," said Wu.
In recent weeks, there has been an apparent effort to push any blame for the crisis onto provincial officials, who either misled Beijing or failed to implement the
Party leadership's instructions. This was exemplified by China's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, who said in an interview with NPR on Saturday that "you cannot talk
in very general terms 'the government' (in China)."
"Sometimes government at a particular level makes some mistakes. This is possible. This is, I think it is all natural all over the world," he said. "But you cannot say
the whole government in China is making a mistake. This is not true."
This was already something of an awkward narrative for Xi, who has amassed more power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and severely ramped up internal
discipline within the Communist Party. By emphasizing his personal involvement in the response from an early stage, Xi has potentially undermined that narrative even
further -- you can't blame local officials for their failures, and then reveal you were watching them the entire time.
Ultimately, however, the awkwardness of sharing some of the blame with Hubei officials might be preferable than admitting that Xi and those around him were potentially
unaware or ill informed about what was really going on.
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