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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaPolitics

Xi Jinping security protégé to bolster China’s coronavirus task force

  • Former Wuhan Communist Party chief Chen Yixin could play role in maintaining social stability, observer says
  • Tensions mount in aftermath of death of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang

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Chen Yixin was the Communist Party boss of Wuhan for two years. Photo: Handout
Jun Mai
Beijing has sent a protégé of President Xi Jinping and a senior health official to the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak, raising the political profile of its crisis response as handling of the outbreak and the death of a whistle-blower doctor erode public trust in the authorities.
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Chen Yixin, secretary general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Communist Party’s top law enforcement body, will be added to the national team overseeing handling of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, according to Taoran Notes, a social media account affiliated with state-owned Economic Daily.

Chen’s appointment was designed to bolster the frontline team working to contain the outbreak, the report said.

National Health Commission deputy director Wang Hesheng had also been sent to Wuhan, joining the provincial party standing committee, the official Hubei Daily reported on Saturday.

Wang was also the propaganda chief of the northern municipality of Tianjin for two years.

Chen’s security background might help Beijing coordinate its response to the outbreak and ensure social stability, according to Wuhan University law professor Qin Qianhong.

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