TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In an effort to prevent a repeat of the heckling Wuhan residents dished out at China's vice premier, police officers were reportedly stationed through a residential complex as Communist China's Chairman Xi Jinping paid a carefully orchestrated visit to the community.

Last week, videos surfaced appearing to show Wuhan residents shout "Everything is fake" at Communist China's Vice Premier Sun Chunlan (孫春蘭), as she toured a quarantined community at the epicenter of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on Thursday (March 5). Xi left nothing to chance as he toured a complex among other areas of the city ravaged by the virus on Tuesday (March 10).

Xi's itinerary began with a visit to the notorious Huoshenshan Hospital, where he offered "cordial greetings" to the medical staff and patients behind the safety of a massive monitor. Photos show Xi communicating with patients and doctors through the TV screen while wearing an N95 respirator and standing in the lavishly carpeted waiting area.

According to state-run media mouthpieces CCTV and Xinhua, Xi "paid a cordial visit to the patients who were being treated, expressed concern for medical workers who are fighting day and night on the front lines of the epidemic, and encouraged everyone to be confident and overcome the epidemic." Although the hospital was trumpeted by state-run media as China's rapid reaction to the outbreak, early videos showed the interior to more closely resemble a prison, and serious water leaks were soon evident.

After leaving Huoshenshan hospital, the next stop on Xi's victory tour was the Wuhan Kaiyuan Mansion Community in Wuhan's Qingshan District, where Vice Premier Sun Chunlan (孫春蘭) had been berated by residents. At 2:30 p.m., Xinhua announced that Xi had arrived at the complex to express "sympathy and thanks" to community residents and frontline staff working on epidemic prevention and control.



Wuhan police officer wearing hazmat suit in private residence (Wechat photo obtained by CNA)

Prior to Xi's visit, the recently appointed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary of Wuhan, Wang Zhonglin (王忠林), on Thursday (March 5) demanded that the people of Wuhan show gratitude to Xi for successfully slowing down the epidemic. Wang's remarks attracted no shortage of criticism from Chinese online, with many Weibo users bashing him for his servility to the CCP and his bureaucratic mindset.

Anxious that Xi might see a repeat of the hostile reception by Wuhan residents, Hubei authorities appeared to have taken measures to restrain them. On Tuesday morning, just before Xi's visit, photos began to surface on WeChat showing Wuhan police officers fanning out across the community and apparently even entering homes.

According to screenshots of conversations obtained by CNA, police from multiple precincts in Wuhan dressed in hazmat suits entered private residences in the community for "security inspections" and stayed inside the homes for about an hour. In addition, some residents wrote that the community management dolled out special supplies of white rice, pork, and salads just before Xi's visit.

Some residents also said that they were told by police officers to stand on their balconies and give a warm wave to Xi as he walked by, reported Apple Daily. Other netizens posted videos of the surrounding streets cleared of traffic and snipers posted on many of the buildings.

The following are tweets from Chinese netizens allegedly showing policemen stationed in the apartments of Wuhan residents as Xi toured the grounds below: