The story arose from Tsai’s assessments, published late in the morning, of the CCP’s preparations in the capital in light of the Twentieth Party Congress, to be held in the fall. Tsai said according to the original text first published by Beijing Daily.

The text reaffirmed the commitment to maintain and improve “strict management of coordination, prevention and control”, as well as respond to emergencies and stop the virus through “isolation, management and control as soon as cases of transmission emerge.” Without neglecting the residential inspection, the normalization of periodic checks, and the management of city entrances and exits. Enough to provoke outrage on social media in front of a country exhausted and tired of the central government’s brutal approach to containing the epidemic.

Disappointment and confusion continued to surface online even after we pulled back. “Now it’s time to escape from China,” one user wrote on Weibo.