A8| Monday, March 9, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
THE CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC
Hotel Housing Isolated Migrants
Collapses, Killing at Least 10
At least 10 people were
killed in the collapse of a Chi-
nese hotel that was being used
to isolate people who had ar-
rived from other parts of China
hit hard by the coronavirus out-
break, authorities said Sunday.
The collapse of the building
(right) in the southeastern city
of Quanzhou on Saturday eve-
ning trapped 71 people, China’s
Ministry of Emergency Manage-
ment said.
The ministry said that 38
had been rescued and 23 were
still missing. Most of the res-
cued were taken to hospitals
for treatment, some with seri-
ous injuries
The cause of the collapse
was under investigation, and
the owner of the building was
put under police control, the of-
ficial Xinhua News Agency said.
Two retail spaces on the
first floor of the seven-story
building were undergoing re-
modeling, and a pillar reportedly
deformed a few minutes before
the collapse, Xinhua said, quot-
ing a housing and development
official.
Constructed in 2013, the
building was later converted to
a 66-room hotel that opened in
June 2018, Quanzhou authori-
ties said. The coastal city is in
Fujian province, across the Tai-
wan Strait from the island of
Taiwan.
The city said that 58 people
from epidemic-hit areas were
staying at the Xinjia Hotel for
medical observation. All had
tested negative for the virus.
Most Chinese cities are isolat-
ing people coming from Hubei
province, where the disease is
most widespread, for 14 days.
Hotel workers and employ-
ees of an auto shop in the
building were also inside at the
time of the collapse.
More than 1,000 firefighters
and seven rescue dogs were
dispatched to the site, accord-
ing to the Ministry of Emer-
gency Management. News pho-
tos showed rescue workers
with lights bringing out people,
some bloodied by the collapse.
Rubble could be seen on cars in
front of the building.
China, where the new virus
first emerged in December, has
confirmed more than 80,
cases, about 75% of the global
total. More than 3,000 people
have died in China.
—Associated Press LIN SHANCHUAN/XINHUA/ASSOCIATED PRESSpraise on Mr. Xi, portraying
him as a decisive leader who
rescued his country from a
public-health catastrophe and
bought time for the rest of the
world to prepare defenses
against the highly contagious
new pathogen.
The publicity blitz aims to
blunt criticism Mr. Xi and his
Communist Party were slow to
respond to a virus that has
sickened some 80,000 people
and claimed more than 3,
lives in China.
On Friday, the top official in
the city of Wuhan, where the
virus first emerged, ordered a
“gratitude education” campaign
guiding residents to thank to
Mr. Xi and the party for leading
the epidemic response.
News of the order sparked abacklash on social media—
quickly suppressed by cen-
sors—suggesting Mr. Xi still
faces public cynicism and anger
over the government’s handling
of the epidemic.
“The people have yet to de-
mand an apology from the
leaders, yet the leaders are al-
ready calling on the people to
show gratitude,” said one user
on the Weibo social-media plat-
form. “I puked,” another wrote.
Many such comments swiftly
disappeared.
The celebration of Mr. Xi
amounts to a recasting of the
Communist Party’s narrative on
the crisis, after Mr. Xi main-
tained a public silence during
the early weeks of the virus’s
spread and seemed to keep an
initial distance from front-line containment efforts.
State media recently back-
dated Mr. Xi’s first known in-
structions on epidemic controls
by nearly two weeks, to early
January. With new infectionsappearing to have peaked, Mr.
Xi has pushed to portray him-
self as being in control from
the start.
“Since the epidemic began,
the party center has given it ahigh degree of attention,” Mr.
Xi told 170,000 officials on a
nationwide teleconference last
month, described by state me-
dia as the largest in party his-
tory. “I’ve paid constant atten-
tion to epidemic prevention
and control efforts, issuing ver-
bal instructions and comments
every day.”
On Friday, the daily total of
new cases fell to double-digits
for the first time since health
authorities started reporting
figures in late January.
Where the government re-
sponse to the virus has proved
inadequate, Beijing has blamed
local authorities—replacing se-
nior officials in Hubei and de-
ploying investigators there to
probe alleged negligence.
In addition to the outbreakof Covid-19, the disease caused
by coronavirus, Beijing has
been grappling with an eco-
nomic slowdown and trade ten-
sions with the U.S., interna-
tional backlash against its
treatment of Muslim minorities
and anti-Beijing protests in
Hong Kong.
Some party insiders and pol-
icy specialists have blamed
these problems in part on Mr.
Xi, saying his concentration of
decision-making powers has
stifled policy debate. His domi-
neering style has also discour-
aged many officials from re-
porting negative news, a
phenomenon that likely exacer-
bated the epidemic’s initial
spread, those people say.
—Reddy Zhao in Shanghai
contributed to this article.HONG KONG—As Chinese
authorities voiced confidence
they were containing the coro-
navirus outbreak, the official
Xinhua News Agency meticu-
lously chronicled President Xi
Jinping’s battle against the epi-
demic—from visiting front-line
medical workers to fielding
calls from foreign leaders.
In a glowing article pub-
lished this past week, the state-
run media organization con-
cluded Mr. Xi’s dedication
proved he has a “pure heart
like a newborn’s that always
puts the people as his number
one priority.”
Officials and the govern-
ment-controlled press have
kicked into high gear to shower
BYCHUNHANWONG
Beijing Portrays Xi as Hero of Coronavirus Battle
A publicity blitz aims
to blunt criticism
that the leadership
was slow to respond.NEWS WIRED FOR
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