Chinese President Xi Jinping now has a bigger problem than stopping COVID-19 infections: Quelling escalating anger in Shanghai before it spreads across China, creating a wider crisis of confidence in the Communist Party.
The lockdown in China¡¯s main financial hub, now in its third week, has spawned some of the most anti-government criticism in years on the country¡¯s tightly controlled social media. The latest trending post to get censored featured an 82-year-old man pleading for medication with a local party official who said he could offer only traditional Chinese remedies.
¡°I¡¯m also very worried about the people seeking help,¡± the party official said in the recording. ¡°I¡¯m also very angry but there¡¯s nothing we can do.¡±
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