On February 23, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a meeting in Beijing to discuss “coronavirus epidemic prevention and control and plans to stimulate economic growth,” according to unconfirmed sources.
All members of the Politburo Standing Committee, as well as Xi Jinping, attended. Over 170,000 officials are said to have viewed the meeting via video, marking the first time ever that the central government has used this type of video conference to send their message to officials at all levels.
Xi Jinping allegedly delivered an ominous speech stressing 8 points about the epidemic
Point 1
The epidemic situation is completely out of control. How matters progress from here will determine the fate of the CCP regime.
Point 2
All parties at the committee and government levels are completely “worn out fighting the epidemic.” The local governments, on the surface, seem to obey the central leadership, but in actual fact, they are acting on their own and for their own self-interest, and they will need to be dealt with.
Point 3
In Hubei Province, particularly Wuhan, the epidemic is completely out of control. A clampdown on all information is ordered to maintain the survival of the CCP.
Point 4
Beijing is already at the initial stage of an outbreak. The epidemic situation in the capital is of crucial importance. The CCP must counter it. There is no other choice.
Point 5
All the spying, surveillance, and social credit technology procured internationally in past years must be mobilized to ensure the survival of the Chinese communist regime at this time of the crisis.
Point 6
Officials are to take complete control of all public opinion, propaganda, and information outlets and close down all news outlets that challenge the survival of the CCP.
Point 7
Stabilization mechanisms must be activated, the same mechanisms used during wartime and times of crisis. The survival of the Chinese Communist regime must be maintained at all costs. An all-out war is declared on all possible civil uprisings. All opposition, dissent, and resistance are to be stopped. Officials should take control of all supply lines: food, water, medication, commerce, transport, and communications.
Point 8
The impact of the epidemic on China’s economy is extremely serious and will be long term, due to the difficulties people face in returning back to work. There will be increased unemployment and the basic livelihood of the CCP will be severely affected domestically, as well as due to the loss of foreign trade and capital.
Conclusion
Judging from Xi Jinping’s speech, it seems the CCP is in deep trouble at the moment. Nobody has the ability to reverse the situation and all avenues to resolve the crisis within the CCP system have seemingly reached a dead end.
The current events indicate that the CCP has lost its control; any chance of saving its economy may be slipping away as this virus dilemma has left them in a tight spot.
However, for whatever reason, China’s leaders still seem reluctant to admit it. But, concluding from all the words between the lines, the situation is definitely serious.
In line with China’s propaganda policy to maintain a status quo narrative to the outside world, China’s leaders have ordered its media not to report any negative news about what’s currently happening in China.
Fortunately, there are some independent Chinese-language media that do speak about what’s really happening in China.
Among them are NTDTV, DJY, and other Chinese-language media, which discuss the aforementioned meeting.
According to expert analysis by these independent media, there is a bitter struggle going on between Xi and other Party officials, yet to the outside, a facade is kept that everything is still in unison with Party policy.
The Chinese people are facing yet another harrowing time. The world is anxious and in empathy with them. Let us hope that this darkest hour before the dawn swiftly brings a bright new day.
Translated by Chua BC and edited by Michael Segarty
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