China’s Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang Diverge on Covid Impact – WSJ

Divergent comments this month by China’s top two leaders seem to have “exposed what government officials and policy advisers describe as simmering tensions among top Communist Party officials” over Beijing’s zero-Covid strategy ahead of a major party conclave set for later this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Last Wednesday, President Xi Jinping spoke in a video of Covid-induced economic challenges the world faces, ignoring the economic slowdown at home caused by a strict lockdown policy to keep cases in check, the report said. But at a trade event a day later, Premier Li Keqiang acknowledged the business impact of lockdowns and kept the focus on domestic issues.

Read the full report: The Wall Street Journal.
 

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Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years and has a family in Bangkok.

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