COVID-19 and Xi Jinping's Fight and Win Strategy

Implications for China

Abstract

On January 28, 2020, in a meeting with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the spread of novel coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan (the capital of central China's Hubei province), Chinese President Xi Jinping remarked, saying, “The epidemic is a devil. We will not let it hide.” Furthermore, Xi affirmed that China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the virus outbreak. As noted, on March 10 at Wuhan, Xi declared: “Victory for Wuhan, a victory for Hubei, and victory for China!” What is striking to note, as China declared its win over the epidemic, WHO on March 11, declared COVID-19 as a global “pandemic.”