Xi himself has called the epidemic a severe test of Chinese governance. But the lesson-learning, such as it is, is likely to consist of a further concentration of power in the hands of an already muscle-bound leader and a small coterie of officials trusted because of their personal loyalty to him. This is in keeping with a dictum made famous by Winston Churchill: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama and the recent mayor of Chicago, added his own addendum: that a crisis is “an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Xi’s intentions in this regard are implicit in the triumphant portions of his message to thousands of government and party figures.
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