In comments published on Saturday, Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin said: “The people of Wuhan are heroic people who understand gratitude,” echoing previous comments by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.“[We] must through various channels carry out gratitude education among the citizens of the whole city as well as cadres so that they thank the general secretary [Xi Jinping], thank the communist party, listen to the party’s words, follow the party’s way, and create strong positive energy,” said Wang, who was sent to Wuhan in February to replace the former party secretary, amid rising public anger over local authorities’ handling of the crisis.
Wang’s statement was met with such scorn that the party affiliated paper that published his comments, the Changjiang Daily, appeared to remove the original article. Chinese media has reportedly been instructed not to publish the article, publish commentaries or mention the incident in anyway.
