Can the Coronavirus Strengthen China’s Authoritarian Regime?

In its race to combat COVID-19 – the disease caused by a novel strain of coronavirus that originated in Wuhan in December 2019 – China has embarked on a draconian path. The government started a “people’s war” against the virus, locked down cities and provinces, and sought to use its giant industrial complex to try to limit the virus’ spread. After weeks of ever-increasing numbers of infections and fatalities, we see, at least according to official Chinese governmental data, that the proliferation of the virus has begun to drop off from its peak.

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