Wuhan residents are set to receive lessons in ‘gratitude’ to thank government for coronavirus fight


Wuhan residents are set to receive lessons in ‘gratitude’ so they can thank government for coronavirus fight

  • The city in central China was the epicentre of the virus outbreak in December
  • It has been on lockdown since January but President Xi Jinping visited this week
  • The move prompted hopes quarantine will lifted – but now residents are facing ‘gratitude education’

Residents of Wuhan in China are to receive ‘gratitude education’ so they can thank the country’s ruling Communist party for the fight against coronavirus.

The deadly bug is believed to have originated from a market in the city, which is the capital of China’s Hubei province, in December.

The city has been on lockdown since January, but Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to the region this week for the first time since the outbreak – which was seen as a major sign that Beijing believes the epidemic is now under control.

President Xi Jinping waves to residents who are quarantined at home as he visits Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, this week

Now it has emerged that Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin, the party’s top official, wants to help ‘educate’ local people so they can properly show their gratitude to China’s government.

Wang said: ‘The people of Wuhan are heroic people who understand gratitude.

‘(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.

However, according to a local report the statement prompted ‘raging public opinion’ about the ultimate aim of the proposal.

China Media Project reported that a translation of an internal directive read: ‘This matter fully shows that with Wuhan now having been shut down for more than 40 days, the lives of the ordinary people have been affected to such an extent that there is resentment and anger, and all reports must consider the feelings of the people of Wuhan.’

Many local people in Wuhan are said to be angered by how local authorities have tried to ‘guide public opinion’ over the coronavirus outbreak.

The bug has caused the deaths of more than 3,000 people in China and has since swept the world, causing more than 4,000 deaths across the globe.